When you read unrealistic sci-fi about Mars as planet with vibrant, if aging, life (and Venus as a jungle planet); remember that the conditions on Mars surface

When you read unrealistic sci-fi about Mars as planet with vibrant, if aging, life (and Venus as a jungle planet); remember that the conditions on Mars surface were still largely unknown until the tail end of the Space Race. It was still believable that Mars had life up until the 1960s.