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Taylor & Francis, Ltd. and Imago Mundi, Ltd. are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Imago
Mundi.
http://www.jstor.org
Taylor Francis, Ltd.
Imago Mundi, Ltd.
Mapping the Mars Canal Mania: Cartographic Projection and the Creation of a Popular IconAuthor(s): K. Maria D. LaneSource: Imago Mundi, Vol. 58, No. 2 (2006), pp. 198-211Published by: Imago Mundi, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40234145Accessed: 11-10-2015 09:04 UTC
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7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly
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Mapping
he
Mars Canal
Mania:
Cartographic
rojection
nd the Creation f a
Popular
con
K. MARIA D.
LANE
ABSTRACT:At
the turn fthe twentieth
entury, popular
mania
developed
around the dea
thatMars was
inhabited
y
ntelligent eings.
This obsessionwas
originally
ased in the science ofthetime, ut t outlasted
astronomers'
ertainty egarding
he red
planet's
conditionsof
habitability.
artography
was vital to
the
popular
construction f Mars as an
inhabited world and created a
powerful
andscape
icon
that differed
significantly
rom he
observations f astronomers.
cceptance
of a Martian civilization
egan
to
wane
only
when
cartography's
tatus as an
objective representational
ormatwas weakened
by
new
photographic
technology
n
the
early
1900s.
Although
the
processes
and formats f
cartography
re
rarely
onsidered
primary
actors n
the Mars
mania,
they
were
integral
o
the
origin,development
nd
expiration
f the
conceptualization
f
Mars as a world that was
possibly
nhabited.
KEYWORDS: astronomical
cartography,
lanetary photography,
cience
popularization,
Mars,
Martian
canals,
Giovanni
Schiaparelli,
Nathaniel
Green,
Percival
Lowell,
Eugene
Antoniadi.
At the turn of the twentieth
entury,
n extra-
ordinary
opular
mania
developed
around the dea
thatMars was
inhabited
by intelligent eings.
The
idea
originated
n
the
1880s,
when several
astron-
omers
reported
bservinggeometrical atterns
n
the surface
of the
planet.
Despite disagreement
among
scientists
egarding
he
accuracy
of these
observations nd
reports,
few
high-profile
stron-
omers
championed
the
existence of the
patterns,
inducing
widespread
interest
from
popular
audi-
ences
by
the mid-
890s.
In
both
Europe
and North
America,
people
gravitated
oward he
most sensa-
tional
interpretation
f the
strangely
egimented
Martian landscape: namely,that the intersecting
lines
must indicate a
canal
system
ngineered by
intelligent beings
as a
desperate response
to
increasing ridity.
n
newspapers,highbrow
maga-
zines
and
penny pulps
alike,
writers
nthusiasti-
cally
ook
up
the
subject,
usually accepting
without
reserve the
depiction
of
a
fullymanaged
Martian
landscape.
Although
professional
stronomers
ad
largely
dismissed this
interpretationby
1910,
popular
audiences maintained
trong
nterest
n
it
for
t
least another
decade,
with muted
obsession
lingering
n
some
quarters
or
much
longer.1
Much of the
scholarship addressing
the
Mars
craze has
focused
on the nature
of science
popularization,
he
process
of
astronomy's rofes-
sionalization and the influence of astronomers'
individual
personalities
and
philosophies.
These
Dr
Maria Lane is an assistant
nstructor
n
the
Department
of
Geography
and the
Environment,
University
f
Texas at Austin.
Correspondence
to: K. M. D.
Lane,
1
University
tation A3
100, Austin,
Texas
78712,
USA. Tel:
(1)
512
471
0748.
Fax:
(1)
512 471 5049.
E-mail:
.
RRoutledge
aylor
Francis
roup
Imago
MundiVol.
58,
Part
: 198-211
2006
Imago
Mundi
Ltd
SSN 0308-5694
print/
479-7801online
DOI: 10.1080/03085690600687255
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Imago
Mundi
8:2 2006
Mapping
he
Mars
anal
Mania
199
works
ave
deepened
ur
understanding
f how it.
Although
is
canals
went
unconfirmed
ntil
Mars cience ecame
nmeshed
n
wider
ntellec-
1886,
Schiaparelli
imself
ontinued o
augment
tual
debates,
particularly
hose
concerning
he
his
map
at
every
6-month
nterval
when
Mars
nature f evolution nd theuniqueness f man.2 passedrelativelyloseto Earth.6 s Schiaparelli's
These
studies
have
not,
however,
ackledthe
maps
became
more
detailed,
ther
stronomers'
fundamentalole hat
mapsplayed
n
shaping
he
reactions ecamemore
ntense.
hose
who
failed
claims
nd
their
opular
eception.
am
arguing
to see the
canalswere
divided
n
their
eactions:
herethat
artography
as a vital lement n
the
some
maintained
hat
chiaparelli
ight
ave
been
popular
constructionf Mars as an inhabited
in
error,
hileothers
merely
amented heir
wn
world,
nd that t
gave
rise o a
powerfulandscape
poor
uck,
eyesight,
nstrumentsr
location.7n
icon thatdiffered
ignificantly
rom stronomers'
1886, however,
other
astronomers
onfirmed
reported
bservations.also show hat
cceptance
Schiaparelli's
bservations,
nd
it then
became
of
the Martian ivilization
egan
to wane
only
moredifficult
o
reject
hecanals
nscribedn
the
when the status f
cartography
s an
objective
map.8
Within
ne decade of
the
confirmations,
representational
ormat as
questioned
nd weak-
an
explosion
f
post-
chiaparelli
anal
sightings
ened
by
new
photographic
echnology
n
the
arly
had
produced
n
exceedinglyomplex
map,
and
1900s. attention ad turned o interpretinghecurious
landscape.
Cartography
nd Mars
Just as the visual
certainty
nd
perceived
objectivity
f the
map
had
helped
Schiaparelli
o
Maps
were
nstrumental
n
every hase
of estab-
establish
legitimacy
f
his
early
daims,
ater
lishing
nhabited-Mars
laims s
legitimate
cien-
astronomersound hattheir
uthority
s
inter-
tific
knowledge.
When the Italian astronomer
preters
f heMartian
andscape epended
argely
Giovanni
chiaparelli
irst
eported eeing
ines,
on their wn
cartographic
ontributions.merican
or
canali.
n theMartian
andscape
n
1878,
he
amateur stronomerercival
owell,
who
built is
conveyed
his
findings
n a
map
(Plate 6).
own
observatory
nd
beganmapping
ars
n
1894,
Although
his
was not the
first
map
ofMars nor
quickly
ecame
ne of he
foremostuthoritiesn
even the
only
map
of
Mars
produced
hat
year,
Mars
byproducing
xtremely
etailed
maps
f he
Schiaparelli
hook the
astronomical
orld
with
red
planet
Not
only
^
he confirm ll of
his
revolutionaryepiction
f the
red
planet.
Schiaparelli'sriginal
anals,
but he also discov-
Comparedwith cartographersf the preceding ered n additional 16waterwaysnhis firstear
decade,
who
had
applied
naturalistic
hading
nd
of observation.
e wenton
to
record
ven more
subtle
eddish-orange
arkings
o render arth's
canals two
years
lateF/
nd his second
major
imperfectly
een
neighbour,
chiaparelli
sed
map
became
increasingly
bstract
Fig.
1).
His
hard-edged
ines nd
a schematic
lue
shading
o
work ttracted
he ttentionf
other
stronomers,
represent
planet
neatly
divided
nto what he
many
f
whomwere
nitiallyceptical
fhis ack f
presumed
were
innumerable
slands
nd water-
astronomical
raining. espite
reservationsbout
ways.
This
depiction
as
drastically
ifferent
rom
Lowell's mateur
tatus, owever,
everal
eading
another
major
Mars
mapproduced
n
1877,
y
he
astronomers
ad to
acknowledge
hat e had made
English
stronomer
athaniel
reen
Plate
).
4
Not
a
major
contributiono Mars science
through
only
did
Schiaparelli's
map
display ignificantly
cartography.9
owell's
success,
ttributedo the
moredetail
than
Green's
or
any priormap,
it
superiority
f
his
telescope
nd his
advantageous
demonstrated
he
new
landforms
ith substan-
location
n
Flagstaff,
rizona,
was thus both
tially
more
larity
nddefinition.
n the
basis of
reflectedn and constructedy hevast omplexity
this
onvincing
isual
uthority,
chiaparelli's
ap
ofhis
maps.
quickly
hrust
tsmaker
nto he
potlight,
espite
Immediatelypon making
is first arsobser-
the fact
hathe had
never bserved
Mars before
vations
n
1894,
owell
egan
o
publish
is
heory
1877.5
that the canals
were evidenceof an advanced
Once
Schiaparelli's
anali
were
nscribed
n
the
Martian ivilization.
ot
only
did he
target
cien-
map,
the hunt for
canals
was on.
No other
tific
ournals,
ut
he
also sethis
sights
n
popular
astronomers
ad
seen
anygeometric
ormsn the
magazines
uch as TheAtlantic
onthly,cientific
Martian
urface,
ut the
European
stronomical Americannd
Century
agazine.
n these
eriodicals,
establishment
eacted
o
Schiaparelli'sepiction
y
Lowell
rgued
hatMars musthave
been
under-
working
everishly
ver
henext ecade
o confirm
going planetary
ridificationo severe that its
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Imago
Mundi58:2 2006
Mapping
he
Mars Canal Mania
201
inhabitants ad been forced o
construct mmense
constantly omplained
bout their
nability
o hold
canals
to
bring
easonal
snowmelt from he
polar
an
image
of
Mars
steadily
n
the
telescope,
and
caps
to the
inhabited
equatorial regions.
When therefore etail could
only
be
glimpsed
n
flashes,
doubtful stronomers alked at the certaintywith GeorgeR. Agassiz,an amateur American astron-
which Lowell
delivered
his sensationalist ccount omer and
philanthropist
ho
actively hampioned
to
popular
audiences,
he
challenged
them to come Lowell's
theory,
ommented hat
up
with a
natural
explanation
for
he
geometrical T
, . .
, , ,
*
T
It mustnotbe
imagined
.
,
that
any drawingrepresents
appearance
of
Mars. He also
responded
by
ncreas-
what heobserver
ees the
moment e looks
hrough
ing
his own
publication
ctivities,
sing maps
and
the
elescope.
nstantsf
xceptional
eeing
lash
ut,
other
magery
iberally
o
present
his case
that the
here nd
there,
t
different
pots
n
the
planet.
t s
Martian
andforms
ere
analogous
to
Earth'sman-
not iU he
san?e
henomena ePeat
hemselves
n the
same
way,
n the ame
place, great
umber f
imes,
made
structures,
uch
as rail
networks,
rrigation
that he observer
earns o trust hese
mpressions,
systems
and
street
patterns.
This
cartographic
One has to
keep
one's mind
onstantly
t the
highest
imagery
quickly
became standard
fare
in
books
Pitch
0 catch nd retain
hat he
Ye
sees-
and
articles
ntended
for
wide
readership Fig.
2).
Alp,
is
withthe
?^S
at a Swis*
clouds
landsc*Pe
rom
about
*
h*h
one.
lp,
with he summer
louds
weeping
bout one.
By
the
early
1900s,
Lowellian
images
of Mars
Now
he rolls
way revealing
bit f he
valley,
had become powerful cons. As his maps became andshutsnagain n a moment; hile nsome ther
ubiquitous
n
popular
magazines
and
newspapers,
spot
the clouds break
way,
and disclose
jagged
they
reinforced
he
certainty
f ife nd civilization
summit'
r a
Portion
f
shining lacier-
on
the
red
planet
by presenting
landscape
that
In
essence,
then,
the
art of
sketching
Mars
had no obvious
natural
explanation.
Popular
consisted
of
waiting
ntently
or
moment of still
Sunday
newspapers
frequently
published
geo-
air then
quickiy
recording
n
image
before
the
metric
mages
ofMars to
accompany
articles
bout
memory
could
fade. Given
this
difficulty,
everal
themost
recent
stronomical
iscoveries.
Although
astronomers
nsisted hat
given
feature
hould
be
these
mages
took
on the
general
ppearance
of
the
seen sketched
nd measured
multiple
imesbefore
scientific
anal
maps,
they
were often
nlabelled
or
it could be
definitely
aid to exist.
Otherwise,
he
did
not show
any
coordinates
Fig.
3).
Such
generic
opportunity
or
mistakes--of
vision,
memory
or
abstraction
ndicates hat
his
cartographic
magery
depiction-
was too
great.
was
meantto
convey egitimacy
or
he inhabited-
As
a result
few
of
the
sketches
hat stronomers
Mars
view,
rather
han
information.
s a
simple
drew in thdr observationogbooksor on standar-
icon,
the
geometric
image
of
Mars
stood for
dized
sketchpads
epicted
more thana fewMartian
intelligence,
ivilization
nd advancement.
surface
details
at
any given
time.
Only
the
process
of
gathering,
ompiling
nd
projecting
ozens
(or
The
Creative
ower
of
the
Maps
even
hundreds)
of individualsketches
onto
com-
The
strength
f
the
Mars icon
as
a
visual
symbol
prehensive
maps gave
rise to
the
view of
a
rested
n
more than
a
map's
powers
of
nscription,
geometrical
Martian
landscape.
Schiaparelli's
authorization
nd
legitimization.
t
was also
sup-
famous
chart
included details
from dozens
of
ported
at
a
fundamental
evel
by
the
creative
sketches
recorded
in his
1877-1878
logbooks,
power
of the
cartographic
process
which
had
Other
maps
published
by
the
Royal
Astronomical
brought
nto
existence
a
landscape
that
differed
Society
and
British Astronomical
Association
greatly
from
what astronomers
were
seeing
throughout
he 1880s
and
1890s
typically
ollated
through
heir
elescopes.
thework
of at
least
a dozen
observers
n
London,
Despite
the
widespread
use
of
geometrical
anal
Edinburgh
and
many
far-flung
orners
of the
imagery,
n
fact,
no
astronomer
ver
actually
aw,
British
mpire.
or claimed
to
see,
an
interlinked
anal
network
Lowell's
influential
maps
of the 1890s
and
early
while
sitting
t the
telescope.
The
cartographic
1900s were
likewise
made
by plotting
he
details
authority
fthe
increasingly
rominent
Mars
icon
fromhundreds
of
his own
and
his
colleagues'
concealed
the
fact
that
the canal
'network'
was
sketches
directly
nto a
wooden
globe,
which
was
invisible
to
the
eye.
From
Earth,
the
surface
of
then
tilted
o the
proper
angle
and
photographed
Mars
was
(and
still
s)
notoriously
ifficult
o
make
before
racing
he
negative
nto a Mercator
projec-
out. Even
under
excellent
conditions
for
seeing',
tion.13
Thus,
simple
sketches
blossomed
cartogra-
Mars
shimmered
tantalizingly,
allowing
only
phically
into
complex
and
interlinkednetworks
fleeting
glimpses
of
its
surface.10
Astronomers
that
had
never
been seen
by
any single
ndividual
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202 K. M. D.
Lane
Imago
Mundi 58:2 2006
Fig.
2.
Illustration or
Edward S.
Morse,
Mars and Its
Mystery
Boston,
Little, rown,
and
Company,
1906).
The
plate
was
produced
for
popular
book
written
y
Lowell's close
associate,
Morse. Details
from
chiaparelli's
nd Lowell's
canal
maps
(nos.
5 and
6)
are
compared
with abstract
rawings
f several artificial eatures
known to exist on Earth.
By placing
the
cartographers'
anal
networks
longside
familiarman-made
patterns
t various scales
Illinois
railways,
Montreal
treets,
Arizona
rrigation
anals
and
Groningen
anals
(nos.
1
to
4)
-
Morse intended to demonstrate
hat the
geometry
f the
canals was
likely
o have
been
producedby
ntelligent eings.
These artificial'
atterns
were
contrastedwith similar
late
showing
ix
patterns
f
natural'
andscape patterns, ncludingbranching
racks
n mud and
irregular eological
fissures.
According
o
Morse
(and Lowell),
the
overwhelming traightness
f the
mapped
Martian canals
simply
ould not
have
been
produced
by
natural
processes. Reproduced
with
permission
rom he
University
f
Texas.)
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Imago
Mundi58:2 2006
Mapping
heMars Canal
Mania
203
Fig.
3.
Detail from dward
S.
Morse's
article
My
34
nights
n Mars: How Prof.Edward
S. Morse has been
studying
he
great planet through
he Lowell
Observatory
elescope
and his own
interesting
ccount
of what he discovered
here',
published n The WorldMagazine, October1906, p. 9. The representationf Mars is clearlymeant to resembleLowell's
map
of
the
planet,
ven
though major cartographic
etails,
uch as the names of
places
and otherfeatures
re
missing,
s
are
Lowell's coordinates f atitude nd
longitude.
As a
graphic ccompaniment
o Morse's
text,
which
strongly upports
Lowell's
hypothesis egarding
he existence of canals and
intelligent
ife on
Mars,
the
illustration cts as
a
powerful
cartographic
con
byusing
the
geometry
f the Mars
map
to reinforce he
certainty
f Martian civilization.
his
type
of
illustration
as common n
newspapers
nd
magazines
that
reported
cientists'
iews on the Mars debate.
(Reproduced
with
permission
rom
he Lowell
Observatory
rchives,
lagstaff,
rizona,
USA.)
or on
any singlenight Fig.
4
and Plate
8).
In
truth,
then,
the networked
appearance
of the canals
owed itsexistence
more to the
cartographic rocess
than
to
any reality
n the Martian surface.
Although
astronomers dmitted that the
maps
showed a
landscape
invisible to
the
eye,
the
authority
f the
complex
scientific
map conveyed
an
objectivity
that
outweighed
the
simplistic
sketches.Detractors
who criticized he inhabited-
Mars
theory
n the
basis
of
the difference etween
what was seen on
the
maps
and
in
the
drawings
seem
only
to have cast
suspicion
on the
simpler
drawings,
rather than
to have diminished the
legitimacy
of the detailed
maps.14
Even the
theory's
great champion,
Lowell,
acknowledged
that the
process
of
cartographic rojection
reated
an
un-viewable view:
'not a
single
piece
of the
chartresembles he actual
presentation
f
any part
of the
planet
at
any
time'.15
Although
this
comment
may
have been
intended
primarily
o
rebuff riticism romthose who were unable
to
confirm the
map's
canals
through
their own
telescopes,
Lowell seems
also to have acknowl-
edged
the more creative
role of
cartography
n
bringing
is
populated
oases' to life:
When
hey
re
plottedupon
a
globe,
they
and their
connecting
canals make a most curious network
over all the
orange-ochre
quatorial parts
of the
planet,
mass
of ines and knots'.16
Lowell's one-time associate
William
Pickering
made a similar aveat: The
maps
of Mars ook
very
artificial;
ut we must remember
that
they
are
composites
of
many drawings.
.. All the canals
shown on the
maps
are not seen
at
once;
on the
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8/17
204 K.
M. D.
Lane
Imago
Mundi 58:2 2006
Fig.
4.
Sketch of Mars
by
Percival
Lowell
published
n
Mars s the
Abode
f
ife
New
York,Macmillan,
1
09)
The
image
shows the amount of
surfacedetail that
typically
could
be contained
n
a
single
sketch
n
an astronomer's
observation
ogbook. Depending
on
atmospheric
ondi-
tions,
n astronomer
ould record t most small number
of such
sketches
n
a
single vening,
ach of which
might
show
only
a few canals.
Lowell
reproduced
his
particular
sketch
n
Mars s theAbode
f ife
o show that darkband
sometimes
ppeared
along
the
edge
of
the
polar cap.
He
suggested
hat this dark belt' was a
shallow,
temporary
sea that had
formed s ice melted
along
the
edge
of the
polar cap. This effect s now thoughtto have been an
optical
illusion.
(Reproduced
with
permission
from the
University
f
Texas.)
contrary, nly
a
very
few of them re visibleon
the
same
night'.17
The use of a coordinate
grid,
however,
mplied
exactness nd scientific
bjectiv-
ity;
the
combination of
multiple
observations to
form a
composite
view
conveyed
unassailable
comprehensiveness.
As an artefact of a
map
projection,
herefore,
he
iconic
geometricalmage
of Mars could not have
existed
or
grown
so
meaningful xcept
through
the format nd
pro-
cesses ofcartography.
Decline
of
the
Martian
Map
The inhabited-Mars
theory enjoyed widespread
supportonly
as
long
as the
cartography
tselfwas
accepted
s
the most cientific
epresentation
f
the
red
planet.
When doubts were cast on
cartography
as an
objective
format,
stronomers'
atience
with
increasingly
utlandish claims about Mars
finally
began
to
dry up.
At the same
time,
popular
enthusiasm
forMars
began
to show
the first
igns
of
waning. Although
it took much
longer
for
popular
interest o die out
(it
arguably
continued
with some audiences into the 1950s, if not to the
presentday),
the
decreasing ower
of
the
map
had
a marked ffect n the confidence
fboth scientific
and
popular
audiences in the
supposed
Martian
inhabitants.
Having
risen o
prominence
s the
most
loquent
and
active
promoter
fthe nhabited-Mars
ypoth-
esis,
Lowell sufferedmost
keenly
from he decline
of the
map.
After brief hiatus from his
Mars
studies
between 1898 and
1901
owing
to
illness,
Lowell
had
returned
to
work with a renewed
vigour.
He
published
everalnew
maps early
n
the
twentieth
century,
wrote three new
books
by
1909, conducted extensive lecture tours on the
American east coast and
in
Europe
and
dissemi-
nated
his
findings
o the
popular press
at
every
opportunity.
s
Lowell became more
outspoken
n
his claims about the
landscape
and civilization
f
Mars,
he also became
more vicious toward
the
doubters,
romptingmany
of the
most
prominent
American astronomers nd several
professionals
and amateurs
in Britain to turn
against
him. To
combat
what
they
aw as Lowell's
wilful
disregard
for scientific
professionalism
nd standards
of
proof,
his detractors eacted
with a sustained ffort
to
disrupt
his
popularity
and
undermine
his
legitimacy.18
In Britain, Edward Maunder, a well-known
astronomer from the
Royal
Observatory,
Greenwich,
began
to write
extensively
bout the
likelihood that
Lowell's
maps
were
based
on
nothing
more than
optical
illusion,
provoking
significant
oubt
among
those astronomers
who
had never
seen
the
canals
clearly
n
the first
lace.
At a June 1903
meeting
fthe BritishAstronomical
Association,
for
instance,
a member commented
that Maunder 'had
really
cut
away
the
ground
from nder the feet
f those who
thought hey
had
been able to
prove
that
herewere canals.
The onus
of
proof
now
lay upon
those
who
thought
the
canals were there'.19
n
the United
States,
he elite
academic astronomers cted
in concert to isolate
Lowell from he scientific
ommunity,
ast
doubt
on his claims
and minimized
his
publishing
opportunities.20
Following
Maunder,
several
American astronomers
questioned
whether
Lowell's
maps
and sketches
were not
in
fact
distorted
y
optical
llusion.21
Lowell turned to
photography
o counter
the
many charges being
levelled
against
him. After
Maunder's first
ttacks
n
1903,
Lowell
helped
to
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Imago
Mundi58:2
2006
Mapping
he
Mars
Canal
Mania 205
pioneer
a new method of
planetary
photography
that could
capture
clear
mage
with
only
a
short
time
exposure.22
When his
assistant
Carl O.
Lampland succeeded in photographingMars in
1905,
Lowell
quicklybegan publishing
nd circu-
lating
the
images
to rescue his
reputation.
For a
time,
his
trategy
orked.
Despite being
small and
grainy,
the
photographs
ndeed
contained some
dark
markings
in
areas where
Lowell's
maps
depicted
canals,
indicating
a
confirmation.At a
June 1906
meeting
of the British
Astronomical
Association,
the President A. C. D.
Crommelin
stated that Lowell's
photographs proved
the
'objective reality
of the
canals',
reviving
belief
within he British stronomical
ommunity.23
In
1907, however,
new
optical
illusion
experi-
ments arried ut in the United States mmediately
produced
a reverse
sway
in
scientific
opinion
concerning
the
reality
of the canals.24 While
relentlessly ebutting
he illusion
research,
Lowell
clearly
determined hat he needed to shore
up
the
authority
of his claims
regarding
the
objective
reality
of the canals.25
In the face of what he
perceived
s an
onslaught,
owell mounted
high-
profile
hotographic xpedition
to
South
America
for the
1907
planetaryopposition,26 ssentially
staking
his
reputation
n the new
imaging
echni-
ques
that
Lampland
had
developed
since 1905.
As
British nd American
magazines
and
newspapers
hyped
the
expedition,
scientific and
popular
anticipationmounted.27When Lowell's photogra-
pher
finally
returned from the Andes with the
negatives,
however,
the
images proved
a
general
disappointment.
Lowell claimed
that the
1907
photographs
dispelled
all doubt
regarding
he existence of the
Martian canals.
Paradoxically,
owever,
they
con-
tributedo his further
oss of
credibility.
With each
photographic
mage
of
Mars
typicallymeasuring
less than
half n inch
n diameter n the
negatives,
the
photographs
howed
far ess detail than
any
of
Lowell's
elaborate
maps (Fig.
5).
Although
the
photographs
could be said to
confirm Lowell's
simple ketches,howing ome solated
ines on the
on the
surface of
Mars,
they
did not show
a
definitive anal network.
On
top
of
that,
he
photographs
were
incredibly
difficult o
reproduce:
their
original
size was too
small to
show
any significant
etail,
yet they
became
excessivelygrainy
when
enlarged.
Lowell
agonized
over the
proper
presentation
of his
photographs
n
the
Century agazine,
ven
asking
that
they
be 'retouched'
to show the canals
better.28
Having paid
a
substantial
sum for the
copyright
fthe
mages,
however,
he editorwas in
no mood to
delay publication
f
the
ong-promised
Martian
canal
photographs:
There is
no time to
retouch the photographicplates and we should
consider t a
calamity
o
do
so,
as
it
would
entirely
spoil
the
autographic
value of
the
photographs
themselves.Therewould
always
be
somebody
to
say
that
the
results were
from
he
brains of the
retoucher'.29
To counteract
his
expectation
hat the
unedited
photographs
would
reproduce
poorly,
Lowell
began
sending negatives
and
prints
to
select
astronomers n
Britain
n
the
calculated
hope
that
these
men
would vouch for
the
photographed
canals
in
their own
publications
and
presenta-
tions.30 This
strategy produced
some desirable
results.Crommelinreported hat when he exam-
ined
Lowell's
images
he had seen
twenty-two
canals.31
Likewise,
the director of the
British
Astronomical
Association'sMars
Section
commen-
ted in
his
report
on
the 1907
opposition
that,
'Regarding
the
objectivity
f the
canals of
Mars,
there seems no
necessity
r room
for doubt
after
the
truly plendid
photographic
esults
btained
by
Messrs. Lowell and
Lampland'.32
Despite
such
personal opinions,
however,
the
factremained thatLowell's
photographs
were not
convincing
n
any
of the
formats vailable
formass
distribution.
hey
appeared
too
small,
oo
blurry
r
too dark to match the
certainty
evels
that had
been inscribed n the maps. Whereverthe much-
vaunted
photographs
were
published,
Lowell
usually
nsisted hat
they
were to be
accompanied
by
a disclaimer.
In
the 1907
CenturyMagazine
exclusive,
for
nstance,
Lowell
alerted readers hat
the
printed mages
were three
teps
removedfrom
the
original
negative
s a result f the
processes
of
photographic rinting, alf-toning
nd
press
print-
ing.
He also warned that use of a
magnifying lass
would
only
ncrease the
grain
ize without
reveal-
ing
more details.Lowell was thus
obliged
o make a
delicate
argument.
On the
one hand he
asserted
that to the camera no
evasion of the factavails.
They [the canals]
are
there, nd the
film
efuses o
report
them other than
they
are',
while on
the
other hand he was forced
to
qualify
the
photo-
graphs
as
'handicapped',
claiming
the canals'
'straightness
s more
ronounced
han
appears
from
the
photographic rint'.33
Perhaps
more
damaging
than the
inadequate
reproduction
f the
tinyphotographs
was
the fact
that after
1907
photographybegan
to
supplant
cartography
s the
proper
standard of
proof
for
features discernible on Mars.
The
build-up
of
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206 K. M. D.
Lane
Imago
Mundi
58:2 2006
Fig.
5.
Mars
photographs
s
reproduced
n
Percival
owell,
New
photographs
f
Mars: taken
by
the astronomical
expedition
o the
Andes nd now first
ublished', enturyagazine,
5
(1907):
303-11.
The advent f
photographical
reproduction
resented
owellwith ifficulties.he mall ircles
n
the
rray
t the
eft
produced
irectly
rom sheet
f
negatives
t
original
ize areeach
hardlyarger
han few etters
f
he ext. owell
nd his ssociate
ampland
ad not
found
way
o
producearger egativemages
fMars
without
equiringong ime-exposures
hatwould
ntroducelur.
To a
magazine
eader,
nfortunately,riginal-sizemages
uch
s those
rrayed
n the eft ere
hus
early
nintelligible,
showing
ittle
more than variations f
light
nd
dark,
epending
n the
exposure
ime
for ach
photograph.
he
intermediate-sizedircles n therightre enlargementsf selected hotographicriginalsentredn the90 degree
meridian.he
argest
ircle
centre
ight)
s
a sketch f he ame
egion
rom
owell's
907 bservation
ogbook,
hich e
included or
omparison
nd as a
guide
to the
enlarged hotographs
o
help
readers
ick
out
the canals and
the
conspicuous
ark
pot
nown
s the SolisLacus'. owell's extwarns
he
eader, owever,
hat
he
rocess
f
nlargement
is ofminimal
se,
s t
nlarges
lso the
grain
f he
photograph
nd must otbe overdone'.
espite eing
ailed s more
objective
mages
han
maps,
hen,
hotographs
ere f
ittle
se for
onfirming
he xistence
f he
anals,
specially
n
the
public ye. Reproduced
ith
ermission
rom he
University
f
Texas.)
expectations
regarding
Lowell's
1905
and 1907
photographs
ocusedon their
bjectivequality
nd
ability
to resolve
long-standing
disputes
among
astronomers verthe existenceof the canals. Once
the
early grainy
photographs
had
become avail-
able,
Lowell's elaborate
maps
the basis of
his
reputation, credibilityand hypothesis became
essentially
obsolete as scientific
mages.
In
1907,
Hugh
Chisholm,
he editor
of the tenth edition of
the
Encyclopaedia
Britannica,
wrote to
Simon
Newcomb
saying
that that he did not want to
publish
Lowell's
hand-drawn
maps
as
illustrations
for
Newcomb's article n Mars:
I
think hat
nly
half-tone
eproduction
fLowell's
photographs
ould
e scientific Thewhole
hing
n
facts so much
ound
p
with heLowell
hotographs
that
shrink
rom
howing nything
ut he
originals
(which
re
decidedly
ifficult
or s to
reproduce,
nd
had better e therefore
eferredo
only
in their
source).
..
I
don't
n
any
case ike
he deaofmere
drawings,
hichmust
nevitably
fake' o some xtent
the canals'.34
In
the
end,
Chisholm
decided he
would
publish
he
Mars
entry
without
any image
at
all,
rather
han
use
maps
instead of scientific'
hotographs.
Many
editors seem to
have come
to similar
conclusions after the
1907
expedition,
since
Lowell's
maps rarely appeared
in
scientific
ub-
lications fter
hat
year.
Photography
ad
provided
a new standard of
objective
representation
hat
made the diverse
maps
of astronomers
appear
positively ubjective
n
comparison.
The fact that
the
photographs
were
blurry
nd
grainy
did
not
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Imago
Mundi 58:2 2006
Mapping
heMars Canal
Mania 207
diminish
heir
perceived objectivity.
t
did,
how-
ever,
diminish he
certainty
f the canals that had
been
inscribed
n
the
maps by
Lowell
and others.
A
Scientific
nd
for
he
Canals
The
final
low
to Lowell's scientific
redibility
ame
in
1909-1910,
when he
became embroiled
n
a
debate
with the French
astronomer
Eugene
Antoniadi
over the
best
way
to
represent
Mars.
With the
authority
f his
map
weakened
by
the
new
photographs,
owell's
personal credibility
lso
became
vulnerable.
Whereas he had earlier been
able
to maintain a
spirited
defence
against
all
criticisms,
e was left
fter
1907 to
argue
from
much
weaker
position.
Those astronomers
who
had
long
wanted
to dismiss his theories
and
speculations
egardingMartian ife uddenlyfound
the
proposition
much easier.
During
the
planetary
opposition
in
1909,
Antoniadi
bserved
Mars at the celebrated
3
3 inch
Meudon
Observatory
telescope,
the
largest
in
Europe.35
Although
he
observed
for
only
nine
nights
during
a
month-long
stay
in
Paris,
he
reported
eeing
Mars
so
clearly
at times
that the
linear
appearance
of
the canals
dissolved
nto an
intricate
mess
of
smaller,
rregular
etails,
nd
he
noted
that
the
geometrical
canal"
network
s an
optical
llusion;
and
in
its
place
the
great
refractor
shows
myriads
of marbled
and
chequered
objec-
tive fields,which no artistcould ever think of
drawing'.36
Antoniadi,
an
accomplished
draftsman,
attempted
o
represent
he
complex
markings
he
had seen.
He sent
five
sketches
to
Lowell
with
a
letter
describing
his
perfect
certainty
hat
they
represented
n
objective
view of
Mars' surface.
Lowell
had cautioned
Antoniadi
n an earlier
etter
about
the
danger
that
such
a
large
telescope
as
Meudon's
might
ctually
show
diminished
detail
(by
allowing
excess
light
to
overwhelm
subtle
features),37
ut
Antoniadi
reported,
the
remendous
ifficulty
as not o
ee he
detail
but
accuratelyo representt. Here,my experiencen
drawing
roved
f
mmense
ssistance,s,
after
my
excitement,
t
the
bewildering
mount
of detail
visible,
as
over,
satdown
nd drew
orrectly,
oth
with
regard
o
form
nd
intensity,
ll
the
markings
visible.38
Lowell
tried
o
discredit
ntoniadi's
laims
but
to
no avail.
Upon
theoccasion
of
Schiaparelli's
death
in
1910,
Lowell
wrote
an
eloquent
obituary
praising
he
Italian's
canal
discoveries,
while also
blasting
his own
opponents
for not
accepting
the
reality
f the canals.39 t
was,
however,
to
be the
last time he
actively
defendedthe
inhabited-Mars
hypothesis
n a scientific
ublication,
howing
that
the tidehad finallyurned.Antoniadi, n the other
hand,
wrote more than a dozen
well-received
scientific rticles
n
1909 and
1910,
most
of
them
directly efuting
owell's
hypotheses.
n
his official
reports
for the British
Astronomical
Association,
Antoniadiwrotewith
confidence nd
finality
f
he
artificial anals' demise:
We
thus ee
n the
o-calledcanals' work f
Nature,
not of
ntellect;
he
spotsrelieving
he
gloom
of a
wilderness,
nd
not
heTitanic
roductions
f
uper-
natural
eings.
o account or heir
arious
henom-
ena,
we need
only
nvoke he natural
gencies
f
vegetation,
ater, loud,
nd
nevitable
ifferencesf
colour n a desert
egion.40
To
understand
how Antoniadi's nine
nights
of
Mars
observations succeeded
in
discrediting
Lowell,
who had
a
fifteen-year
ecord of contin-
uous observation
nd
publication,
we must con-
sider
he visual
authority
fAntoniadi'snew
claims
in 1909.
Upon
completion
of his
stay
at the
Meudon
Observatory,
Antoniadi
immediately
began
circulating
is sketches o
colleagues
within
the British stronomical
ommunity.
At the same
time,
he
wrote a
series of articles
about his
and
others'
Mars
observations
n
the
Journal
of
the
BritishAstronomical
ssociation.
n
most
of these
publications
and
letters,
he
emphasized
the fact
thathisdrawings howedmore detail han Lowell's
maps
by
revealing
intricate
features
in
places
where Lowell
showed
mere
ines. He referred o
a
'vast and incredible
mount
of
detail',41
laiming
that
'the fact that
no
straight
ines could
be
held
steadily
henmuch
more elicate
etailwas
continually
visible
onstitutes
fatal
objection
to
their crum-
bling
existence'.42
Antoniadi
nd his
ally
Maunder
(still
n activecritic
f
Lowell)
also
pointed
out
that
the new
naturalistic,
shaded sketches
bore a
striking
esemblance
to the
latest
photographs
f
Mars.43
Antoniadi's
1909 sketchesthus
appeared
more
objective
than
Lowell's
in
their
similarity
with
the new
photographicmagery.
Finally,
it
must be noted
that
Antoniadi's
personal
authority
as
a
long-standing
Lowell
supporter
made
him an
especially
effective
ritic.
Antoniadi
himself
had
reported eeing
canals on
numerous
occasions
and had
drawn
dozens
of
them
on
maps
he
compiled
for the British
Astronomical
Association
in
his
capacity
as the
Mars Section
director
ince 1896.44
Furthermore,
Antoniadi
had
championed
the
evidentiary uality
of Lowell's
1905 and
1907
photographs.
n
an
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208 K. M. D.
Lane
Imago
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58:2 2006
analysis published
for the
Royal
Astronomical
Society
n
1908,
for
nstance,
Antoniadi commen-
ted that the amount of detail shown on
[Lowell's]
photographs s veryconsiderable'and noted that
he could count seventeen canals as 'more or less
discernible
n the
images'.45
Antoniadi hus could
not be dismissed s a feeble observerwho
rejected
the canals because he could not see them himself.
In
the
end,
Antoniadi
brought
bout a
complete
reversal f
the 1877-1878
verdict,
ince his
subtle,
naturalistic
hading
more
closely
resembled the
appearance
of Green's 1877
map
than
anything
that had been
produced
in
the
intervening hirty
years, yet
it won substantial
approval
from
the astronomical
communities
in
Europe
and
North
America,
relegating
Lowell's
hard-edged
Schiaparellian-stylemaps
to
a
weakened status as
'startling
heories'.46Maunder claimed at a meet-
ing
of the British
Astronomical ssociation
hat he
canals
had been
irrevocably ut
to rest:
There never was
any
real
ground
for
upposing
hat n
the
markings
observed
upon
Mars
they
had
any
evidence of artificial action. Had it not been a
sensational
dea which ent tself o sensational
writing
in
the
daily press
he
[Maunder]
did not believe
they
would ever have heard of
t. He considered t was all
the
better or cience that he dea was now
completely
disposed
of.
They
need
not
occupy
their minds with
the dea that herewere miraculous
ngineers
t work
on
Mars,
and
they
might leep quietly
n
their beds
without fear of invasion
by
the Martians after the
fashion
hat
Mr.
H. G. Wells had so
vividly
escribed.47
Although
his
pronouncement
was somewhat
premature, iven
that the
public
did not let
go
of
the
canals as
quickly
as
the
scientists,
Maunder
accurately
recorded definitive
eversal
n
scien-
tific
onsiderations f the
geography
f Mars.
The
reasons or his
eversal ncludeboth herise f
photography
s a
standard f
proof
nd Antoniadi's
claim
that
his
few
ketches howed more
detail
han
Lowell's
many maps. Visually
supported by
the
photographs
the new scientific
magery
f truth
Antoniadi's
ketches
rumped
owell's
maps.
After
long
assault on the
ogic
of
Lowell's
theory
nd the
authority
f
his
methods,
t
was the
dismantling
fhis
mapsthatfinally iminished he scientificommu-
nity's
willingness
o
seriously
ntertain urtheralk
f
Mars'
nhabitants.
Throughout
he
period
of
the
popular
Mars
mania,
maps
were the
principal
means
of
disseminating
scientificnformation
egarding
he
geography
of
the
planet.
The
present-day nalyst
can see that
little
alue can
be
gained by
assessing
which
maps
were
right'
r
wrong'
n
terms ftheir
aithfulness
to
modern-day magery
of the
Martian
surface.
Maps produced
at the turn
of the twentieth
century
are much
more valuable
for
what
they
reveal about the processesofconferringuthority
for
knowledge
claim and
legitimization
f certain
landscape
views.
The
sharp
rise of the
inhabited-Mars
heory
n
the late
nineteenth
entury
was
intimately
ied
to
the
perceived objectivity
f scientific
artography,
the
visual
authority
of
specificmaps
and
the
personal
authority
of various
mapmakers.
The
competition
o add
more and
more canals to
the
map
of
Mars
eventually roduced
powerful
conic
image
that transcendedthe
boundary
between
science
and
popular
culture.
This con
showing
geometrical
anal network
n the
planet
came
to
representn advanced intelligence nd civilization
on
Mars.
In
the
process,
the
image
of Mars
assumed a mantle
of scientific
bjectivity espite
admissions hat
no one had ever
actually
een
the
canal network
s a whole. As the functions
f the
cartographicprocess
were erased
in
the
visual
aspect
of the
map,
the
geometrical
map
of
Mars
became a
convincingpiece
of evidence
for
advo-
cates of the inhabited-Mars
heory.
Because
this
theory
was so
keenly
linked with
the visual
authority
f the
map,
it was
dependent
on the
map's legitimacy.
When
the
perceived
objectivity
of
cartography
faltered
n the
early
1900s in
comparison
with
new
photographic
technologies,
elief n the
supposed
inhabitants f
Mars lost
considerable
round
s well. The
waning
credibility
of the
maps
furtherweakened
the
position
of astronomers
ike
Lowell,
whose stature
as advocatesofthe nhabited-Mars
heory
was built
on the foundation
of their
maps. By
1910,
the
astronomical communitiesof
Europe
and North
America had
largely
abandoned
their
thirty-year
flirtation ith the
idea of an inhabitedMars and
returned o a naturalistic
mapping tyle
hat
losely
resembled the
pre-
877-1 878
maps. Cartography
was
thus
integral
o the
origin,development
nd
expiration
of the scientific
onceptualization
of
Mars as a worldpossibly nhabited.
Acknowledgements:
esearch
for his
ssay
was funded
y
a
Mellon Dissertation
ellowship
awarded
by
the Council
on
Library
nd Information esources.
I
also
gratefully
acknowledge
skilful esearch ssistance
provided by
the
Lowell
Observatory ibrary Flagstaff,
rizona),
he
Royal
Astronomical
Society
(London)
and La Biblioteca
deirOsservatorioAstronomico
i Brera
(Milan). Finally,
I
would like to thank
Roger
Hart and Ian Manners
for
helpful
omments
n
early
drafts f this
essay.
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Mapping
heMars
Canal
Mania
209
A version
f
his
aper
was
presented
t the 1st
nternational
Conference
n the
Historyf
Cartography,
udapest,
uly
005.
Revised
ext eceived ctober005.
NOTES
AND REFERENCES
1. The
reportedly eometrical ppearance
of the
surface
of Mars s now
thought
o have been an
illusory
ffect f
optical perception
(Thomas
A. Dobbins and William
Sheehan,
'The canals of Mars
revisited',
ky
&
Telescope
107:3
(2004):
114-17).
For a succinct overview of
the
turn-of-the-century
ars
mania,
see William
Sheehan,
The Planet Mars: A
History f
Observationnd
Discovery
(Tucson, University
f Arizona
Press,
1996).
2. See
especially
David
Strauss,
Percival Lowell: The
Culture
nd Science
of
a Boston Brahmin
(Cambridge,
Mass.,
Harvard
University
ress,
2001),
for a
thorough
contextualization
f he workofPercival
owell,
who was
the most influential
advocate of the inhabited-Mars
hypothesis.
For
comprehensive
reatments f the
place
of the
Mars
mania in intellectual
history,
ee Steven J.
Dick, The Biological Universe:The Twentieth-Century
Extraterrestrial
ife
Debate and
the Limits
of
Science
(Cambridge, ambridgeUniversity
ress,
1996);
Michael
J.
Crowe,
The
Extraterrestrial
ife
Debate
1750-1900: The
Idea
of
Pluralityf
Worlds
rom
ant o
Lowell
Cambridge,
CambridgeUniversity
ress,
1986);
and Karl S.
Guthke,
The Last Frontier:
magining
Other
Worlds,
from
the
Copernican
evolution
o Modern cience
iction
Ithaca
and
London,
Cornell
University
ress,
1983).
For discussions
of the
popularization
of
Mars
science,
see William
Sheehan,
Planets nd
Perception
Tucson,
University
f
Arizona
Press,
1988);
and William Graves
Hoyt,
Lowell
and
Mars
(Tucson, University
f Arizona
Press,
1976).
Regarding
he
fraught rofessionalization
f
astronomy,
see Noriss S.
Hetherington,
ercival Lowell:
scientist r
interloper?'
ournal
f
he
Historyf
deas
42: 1
(
1 8
1
159-
61;
and Noriss
S.
Hetherington,
Amateur versus
profes-
sional: the British AstronomicalAssociation and the
controversy
ver
canals
on
Mars',
Journal
f
the British
Astronomical
ssociation6
(1976):
303-8.
3. Giovanni
Virginio
Schiaparelli,
Osservazioni astro-
nomiche
e fisiche
ull'asse
di rotazionee sulla
topografia
del
pianeta
Marte fatte
nella
reale
specola
di Brera
in
Milano
coll'equatoreale
di
Merz durante
'opposizione
del
1877:
memoria
del socio G.
V.
Schiaparelli',
Atti ellaReale
Accademia
dei
Lincei:
Memorie
della Classe di
sdenze
fisiche,
matematiche
naturali
3:2
(1877-1878):
3-136.
Schiaparelli's
erm anali
was
widely
ranslated
n
English
as
'canals'.
4. Nathaniel
E.
Green,
'Observations
of
Mars,
at
Madeira,
n
August
and
September
1877',
Memoirs
f
the
Royal
Astronomical
ociety
4
(1879):
123-40.
5. For a
detailed
discussion f
the
early
Mars
maps
and
their
role
in
establishing
the
authority
of individual
astronomers,ee K. MariaD. Lane, Geographers fMars:
cartographic
nscription
nd
exploration
narrative
n late
Victorian
epresentations
f thered
planet',
sis
96
(2005):
477-506.
6. See
the
increasingly
detailed
maps
in
G.
V.
Schiaparelli,
Osservazioni
stronomiche
fisiche
ull'asse
di rotazione
e sulla
topografia
del
pianeta
Marte fatte
nella reale
specola
di Brera
n Milano
coll'equatoreale
di
Merz:
memoria econda del
socio G.
V.
Schiaparelli',
Atti
della
Reale
Accademia eiLincei:
Memorie ella
classe i
sdenze
fisiche,
atematiche
naturali
(1880-1881):
3-109;
G.
V.
Schiaparelli,
Osservazioni stronomiche
fisiche ull'asse
di
rotazione e sulla
topografia
el
pianeta
Marte fatte
nella reale
specola
di
Brera
n
Milano
coll'equatoreale
di
Merz:
memoria terza
del socio
G. V.
Schiaparelli
(opposizione 1881-1882)',
ibid. 4
(1886):
281-373;
G.
V.
Schiaparelli,
'Osservazioni
astronomiche e
fisiche
sull'asse di rotazione e sulla topografiadel pianeta
Marte fatte
nella reale
specola
di
Brera in
Milano
coll'equatoreale
di Merz: memoria
quarta
del socio
G. V.
Schiaparelli
opposizione 1883-84)',
ibid. 5
(1895-1896):
183-240.
7.
See,
for
xample,
C. E.
Burton
Notes on
the
aspects
of Mars in
1882',
Sdentific
ransactions
f
the
Royal
Dublin
Sodety
1
(1883):
301-5.
Burton
regularly
amented the
'unfortunate limate'
of the British
sles,
which
he felt
prevented
British and Irish
astronomersfrom
making
meaningful
ontributions o the
study
of Mars.
8.
The
Belgian
astronomer
Francois
Terby
and the
French astronomer
Joseph
Perrotin oth
reported eeing
canals
in
1886: The canals on
Mars',
Astronomical
egister
24
(1886):
268,
reported
Terby
s
findings;
J.
Perrotin,
'Observation des canaux de
Mars faite a
l'Observatoire
de
Nice',
Observatory
(1886):
364-65. The
sketches
by
these astronomers,however, were less detailed than
Schiaparelli'smaps,
which showed
more and more
canals
with
every
teration fter1877.
9.
Simon
Newcomb,
director of the
United States
Nautical Almanac and
a noted Lowell
antagonist,
wrote
to Lowell in 1905
to
request
a
map
for n
encyclopedia
articlehe
was
then
preparing:
I
would like
a
good map
of
Mars
to
accompany
the article.For this know
no better
source
than the
publication
f
your observatory'
Simon
Newcomb to Percival
Lowell,
30
October
1905,
in
Washington,
D.C.,
Library
of
Congress, Manuscript
Division,
Simon Newcomb
Papers).
The
editor f
Popular
Astronomy,
. W.
Payne,
likewise commented n 1904
thatLowell's
maps
were
pieces
of
stronomicalwork hat
are now classical in
astronomy
. .
because
they
were
made
by
the
very
est means and methodsnow known
to
that science'
(W.
W.
Payne,
'The
"canals" of
Mars',
PopularAstronomy2:6 (1904): 365-75).
10.
In
astronomical
erms,
seeing'
is a measure of
the
stillness nd
clarity
f
Earth's
atmosphere.
red W.
Price,
'The
atmosphere
and
seeing',
in
The Planet
Observer's
Handbook,
2nd ed.
(Cambridge, Cambridge University
Press,
2000).
11.
G.
R.
Agassiz,
Mars as seen
in
the Lowell
refractor',
Popular
Sdence
Monthly
1
(1907):
275-82,
reference n
281.
12.
See,
for
xample,
Nathaniel
E.
Green,
The northern
hemisphere
of
Mars',
Monthly
Notices
of
the
Royal
Astronomical
odety
46:8
(1886):
445-47;
E.
Walter
Maunder,
Section for he observation f Mars:
report
f
the
Section, 1892',
Memoirs
f
the British
Astronomical
Assodation2
(1895):
157-98;
Eugene
M.
Antoniadi,
'Section for the observation of Mars:
report
of the
Section, 1896',
ibid. 6
(1898):
55-102.
13. Percival Lowell, Mars (Boston and New York,
Houghton,
Mifflin,
895).
14. For a
typical ritique,
ee Edwin
Holmes,
Notes re
Mars',
Journal
f
the British
Astronomical ssodation :5
(1891):
256-59.
15. Percival
Lowell, 'Mars',
Popular
Astronomy
:1
(1894):
1-8,
reference n 8.
16. Percival
Lowell,
Mars:
oases',
PopularAstronomy
:8
(1895):
343-48,
reference
n
346,
emphasis
added.
17. William H.
Pickering,
The
planet
Mars',
Technical
World
Magazine 1906):
459-71,
reference n 469-70.
18.
Strauss,
Perdval Lowell
see
note
2),
provides
the
most
comprehensive
analysis
of
the
manoeuvring
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210 K.M.D. Lane
Imago
Mundi
58:2
2006
between Lowell and his
opponents
n
the
astronomical
establishment.
19.
'Report
of the
meeting
of the
association,
held on
June 24
1903,
at Sion
College,
Victoria
Embankment',
Journal ftheBritish stronomicalssociation3:9 (1903):
331-40,
reference
n
338.
20.
See,
again,
Strauss,
Percival
owell
note 2),
for a
detailed discussion f
this
effort.
21.
See,
for
example,
a series of letterswhich Simon
Newcombwrote o Percival owell
n
March
1903
(Simon
Newcomb
Papers
note 9)).
22. For
a detaileddiscussion
f how Lowell manoeuvred
to validate this method and cultivate
supporters,
ee
Jennifer
Tucker,
'Science Illustrated:
Photographic
Evidence and Social Practice
in
England,
1870-1920'
(doctoral
dissertation,
The Johns
Hopkins University,
Baltimore,MD,
1996).
23.
'Report
of the
meeting
of the
association,
held
on
June
20, 1906,
at Sion
College,
Victoria
Embankment',
Journal
f
theBritish stronomical
ssociation
6:9
(1906):
333.
24. Simon Newcomb, The optical and psychological
principles
nvolved
n
the
interpretation
f
the so-called
canals
of
Mars',
Astrophysical
ournal 6:1
(1907):
1-17.
25. For his animated
rebuttals,
ee
especially
Lowell's
personal correspondence
with Simon Newcomb and
Walter
Maunder,
for
example,
letterfrom Lowell to
Simon
Newcomb,
15 March
1903;
Lowell to
Newcomb,
15
May
1907
(Simon
Newcomb
Papers
note 9)).
See also
Lowell to E. Walter
Maunder,
28 November
1903
(Percival
Lowell
Correspondence,
Lowell
Observatory
Archive,
lagstaff, rizona).
26.
An
'opposition'
occurs when two
planets pass
one
another
n
their
respective
rbits,
orming
line as
seen
from he
sun.
During
uch
an event
which
occurs
every
26 months n
the case
of Earth nd
Mars),
the
planets
re
not
only relatively
loser o one another
han
at
any
other
time,
ut the diskof
he outer
planet
in
this
ase,
Mars)
is
also fully lluminated y the sun, as seen from he inner
planet.
27.
See
Tucker,
Science Illustrated'
note 22),
for
a
discussion f the
media's
coverage
of the
expedition.
28.
Lowell asked an associate
in
New
York,
George
R.
Agassiz,
o
intercedewith
Century's
ditor,
R.U.
Johnson,
on his behalf.
Letter
fromR.
U. Johnson
to
Lowell,
24
September
1907,
from
George
R.
Agassiz
to
Lowell,
27
September
1907,
and from
George
R.
Agassiz
to
Lowell,
14
October 1907
(Percival
Lowell
Correspondence
see
note
25)).
29.
Letter
romR.
U. Johnson
o
Lowell,
8 October 1907
(Percival
Lowell
Correspondence
see
note
25)).
30. See
Tucker,
Science
Illustrated'
note 22),
for
a
detailed treatment
f
this
episode.
31. A.
C.
D.
Crommelin,
Martian
photography',
The
Observatory
0:387
(1907):
365.
32. E. M. Antoniadi,Mars Section nterim eport n the
Australian
observations, 1907',
Journal
of
the British
Astronomical
ssociation 8:10
(1908):
398-401,
reference
on 401.
33.
Percival
Lowell,
New
photographs
f
Mars: taken
by
the astronomical
xpedition
o the Andes and now first
published',
Century agazine
5
(1907):
303-11,
reference
on
309-10,
emphasis
added.
34. Letter
rom
Hugh
Chisholm
to Simon
Newcomb,
5
February
1907
(Simon
Newcomb
Papers
(see
note
9),
emphasis
n
original).
35.
See
Richard
McKim,
The
life and times
of
E. M.
Antoniadi, 1870-1944. Part 1: an astronomer n the
making',
Journal
of
the BritishAstronomical
ssociation
103:4
(1993):
164-70;
Richard
McKim,
'The
life and
times f
E. M.
Antoniadi,
870-1944. Part2:
the Meudon
years',
ibid.,
103:5
(1993):
219-27,
for
a detailed
discussion of
Antoniadi's
ong
involvement
n the Mars
debate.
36. E.
M.
Antoniadi,
Mars
Section third
nterim
eport
for
1909,
dealing
with he nature
of he
so-called
canals"
of
Mars',
Journal
f
heBritish stronomical
ssociation
0:1
(1909):
25-28,
reference
n 28.
37.
Letter
rom owell
to E.
M.
Antoniadi,
6
September
1909
(Percival
Lowell
Correspondence
see
note
25)).
38. Letter
from
E. M. Antoniadi to
Lowell,
9
October
1909
(Percival
Lowell
Correspondence
see
note
25),
emphasis
n
original).
39. Percival
Lowell,
'Schiaparelli',
Popular
Astronomy
18:8
(1910):
456-67.
40. E. M.
Antoniadi,
On the
possibility
f
explaining
n
a
geomorphic
basis the
phenomena
presented
by
the
planet
Mars',
Journal
f
heBritish
stronomical
ssociation
20:2
(1909):
89-94,
reference
n 93.
41. E. M.
Antoniadi,
Mars Section
fourth nterim
eport
for
he
apparition
f
1909,
dealing
with he
appearance
of
the
planet
Mars between
September
0 and October
3 in
the
great
efractor
f the Meudon
Observatory',
ournal
f
the British
Astronomical ssociation
0:2
(1909):
78-81,
reference
n
79.
42. E. M.
Antoniadi,
Mars Section
fifthnterim
eport
for
1909,
dealing
with the fact revealed
by
observation
that Prof.
Schiaparelli's
"canal" network
s the
optical
product
of the
irregular
minor details
diversifying
he
Martian
surface',
Journal
of
the British
Astronomical
Association
0:3
(1909-1910):
136-41,
reference
n
141,
emphasis
n
original.
43. The staff
of the Mount
Wilson
Observatory
n
California,
using
the world's
largest
telescope
(with
a
60-inch
refractor),
ad taken a series
of
photographs
n
1909 that far exceeded Lowell's
1907
images
in
clarity
and detail.
Once
again,
however,
the celebrated
photographs
failed to show
any
of the
hard-edged
features
hat
commonly appeared
in
Lowell's
drawings
and
maps.
'Report
of the
meeting
of
the
association,
held
on
Wednesday,
December
29, 1909,
at Sion
College,
Victoria
Embankment, B.C.',
Journal
of
the British Astronomical ssociation
0:3
(1909-1910):
119-28.
44.
See,
for
xample, Eugene
Antoniadi,
Mars
Section,
second
interim
eport
or
1898-99',
Journal
f
the
British
Astronomical
ssociation:8
(1899):
367-71.
45. E. M. Antoniadi, 'Note
on some
photographic
images
of Mars taken
in 1907
by
Professor
Lowell',
Monthly
otices
f
he
Royal
Astronomical
ociety
9:2
(1908):
110-14,
references
n 110
and
112.
46.
Antoniadi,
Mars Section
fifth nterim
report
for
1909'
(see
note
42),
141.
47.
'Report
of
the
meeting
of the
association,
held
on
Wednesday,
December
29,
1909'
(see
note
43),
123.
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7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly
15/17
Plate
6.
Map
of Mars
by
Giovanni
Virginio chiaparelli,
1878. Published with
his 'Osservazioni astronom