Mars - Percival Lowell

Percival Lowell (1855–1916) was a mathematician and amateur astronomer who greatly popularized the idea that Mars was inhabited by intelligent beings.

In 1894 he founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Perched at an altitude of 7,000 feet, the observatory provided one of the best views yet of the cosmos, including Mars. For fifteen years Lowell studied the Red Planet and wrote about his observations. He was convinced that there were artificial canals on Mars, because he could see hundreds of straight lines on the surface that intersected large patches of contrasting colors. Lowell argued that the canals must have been built to move water from the melting polar cap toward desert regions near the planet's equator.

Lowell publicized his theories in numerous articles and three popular books: Mars (1895), Mars and Its Canals (1906), and Mars as the Abode of Life (1908). In 1901 Lowell constructed a globe of Mars showing large geological features criss-crossed by a network of lines that intersected at certain points around the world. Lowell called these intersections oases, because he imagined they were fertile green areas amidst the desert.

In a series of articles published during 1895 by The Atlantic Monthly, Lowell laid out his theories in detail. He believed that Mars had a thin air-based atmosphere containing lots of water vapor and that fresh water flowed from the polar ice caps through irrigation canals built by the highly intelligent Martians.