Percival Lawrence Lowell 1855-1916

[jambouk]

Another character from the history of astronomy who interests me, and I'm sure would have been a fascinating character to meet and converse with.

I'd read a biography about him a year or so ago (written by his brother, A[bbott] Lawrence Lowell and published in 1935; http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=12244995273&searchurl=yrh%3D1935%26bi%3D0%26ds%3D30%26sts%3Dt%26bx%3Doff%26sortby%3D17%26tn%3Dbiography%2520lowell%26an%3Dlowell%26recentlyadded%3Dall)which revealed what a fascinating life Percival had led.

Born into a wealthy family, he graduated from Harvard in mathematics, and subsequently travelled extensively through, and wrote about, the Far East including Korea and Japan.

On returning to the United States in the early 1890s he began to devote his time, energy and substantial wealth in to the study of astronomy. He picked Arizona as a potential site for an observatory, and his assistant undertook observations and meteorological readings at various sites, but they picked Flagstaff because of its favourable altitude and climate (few cloudy nights), and it was far from the light pollution of the big cities. In 1894 observations at the Lowell Observatory, Mars Hill, Flagstaff, began.

It seems Lowell was already fascinated by the "canals" of Mars, and he spent the next fifteen years studying and mapping the surface features of Mars. The maps of the extensive network of canals he drew are easy to find online, and are astonishingly detailed, with many tens of named canals indicated. He published several books on the topic of Mars, its canals and its inhabitants, and what I hadn't realised from reading the biography, but have come to realise now I've just read something else on the topic, is the amount of criticism and debate which accompanied his observations and theories at the time.

A chapter in a modern book (Science and Objectivity; episodes in the history of astronomy by Norriss S Hetherington, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Objectivity-Episodes-History-Astronomy/dp/0813811597/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1452631959&sr=8-2&keywords=episodes+in+the+history+of+astronomy)is devoted to the canals of Mars and discusses the flaws in Lowell's approach, but also summarises some of the counter arguments and even experiments which were undertaken to disprove his theories - as well as the counter experiments Lowell undertook to support his argument. [it is only a relatively short chapter so don't rush out to buy the book]. But it goes to show how reading just one book on a topic, or on an individual can give an unbalanced (not maliciously so I'm sure) account.

At least one of Lowell's books on Mars is available online: https://archive.org/details/marsanditscanals033323mbp

Lowell spent the last decade of his life hunting for planet X, the presumed reason why the orbits or Neptune and Uranus were imperfect. We all know about how Clyde Tombaugh came to join the Lowell Observatory and his discovery of Pluto in 1930, nearly 15 years after Lowell's death.

So another fascinating figure from history who left their mark in astronomy in many ways, and who just intrigues me, but who didn't necessarily get it all right.

James

(Image of Lowell from 1914, taken whilst he was observing Venus, taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_Lowell)

[ollypenrice]

An interesting man, indeed. There's a 'Mars-issues biography' by William Graves Hoyt. http://www.amazon.com/Lowell-Mars-William-Graves-Hoyt/dp/0816505144 

I haven't read Lowell's books in the original and balked at a first Edition at Haye on Wye, once. It was bit steep but I rather regret missing it. Thanks for the online link.

I'm afraid I'm rather hostile to Lowell. According to the book I mention, he proposed that the Martians would be right wing Republicans because that would be the only form of government capable of world wide projects. To describe this as running ahead of the observations would be rather an understatement. To what extent was he listened to because he was very wealthy and well connected? My favourite comment on the Martian canals comes from Lowell's social opposite, the humble E.E. Barnard. It's a short comment but a powerful one. 'I can't see 'em.' Hey Percival, if Barnard can't see 'em...

Olly

[jambouk]

Yes, Barnard definitely deserves his own thread at some point.

I saw that Hoyt book today, but it looked pretty hard going, or maybe it was just thick - after flicking through it I wasn't inspired to read it from cover to cover!

James

[Dave In Vermont]

Thank you for the detailed accounting, James. Sounds like a fascinating study. The Martian Canal theory still intrigues me - though more from a psychological reference point than an astronomical point of view.

Intriguing!

Dave

[jambouk]

Dave, if it is the psychological aspect which interests you, then I'd recommend tracking ng down a copy of that book by Hetherington and it discusses (it's not a very long book though) some of the ideas why Lowell was so fixated about the canals, including his belief that he had exceptional eye sight.

James

[ollypenrice]

Dave, if it is the psychological aspect which interests you, then I'd recommend tracking ng down a copy of that book by Hetherington and it discusses (it's not a very long book though) some of the ideas why Lowell was so fixated about the canals, including his belief that he had exceptional eye sight.

James

Had Lowell stayed around a bit longer, Feynman could have reminded him that science is a culture of doubt.

Shapley said something like, Everyone doubts a theory except the person who made it, and nobody doubts an observation except the person who made it.  That's something else he could have tried on Lowell. Lowell believed that the seeing at Mars Hill was exceptional, his telescope was just the right size and his eyesight was exceptional. That's a lot of believing.

Olly

[Dave Lloyd]

I wonder if Lowell had a romantic ideal and this strongly influenced what he wanted to see based on Shiaparelli's observations of "canali", channels. By the time Lowell was active in observing there was some pretty serious kit coming on stream so I think to say that seeing standards were poorer then is a bit of a cop out.

[Putaendo Patrick]

Lowell is indeed a very interesting character. I first came accross him many years ago in the context of his writings on Japan and the Far East. He was also an influence on Lafcadio Hearn.

Lowell's sister, Amy, also contributed to the recognition of early 20th century American poets such as Ezra Pound.

Lowell had very good equipment available to him at his Flagstaff Observatory. But his weakness was well sumed up in the obituary written by astronomer Henry Norris Russell:

"if the observer knows in advance what to expect . . . his judgment of the facts before his eyes will be warped by this knowledge, no matter how faithfully he may try to clear his mind of all prejudice. The preconceived opinion unconsciously, whether he will or not, influences the very report of his senses."

After Lowell's death (1916) the Flagstaff observatory later became important in the discovery of Pluto.

Lowell died in Flagstaff and his widow later built a mausoleum of him in the form of an astronomical observatory. Rather nice to spend eternity gazing up at the stars?

Lowell had a very splendid 1911 Stevens-Duryea car, which is the subject of a book written by (I thnk) his great-nephew:

[jambouk]

Looks like a new book due to published in the next week or so covers the work of the Lowell Observatory:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lowell-Observatory-Images-America-Schindler/dp/1467134171/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454051837&sr=1-1&keywords=astronomy+lowell

 

James

 

[laudropb]

Interesting looking book. Thanks for the heads up.

[jambouk]

I found a reprint of one of the obituraties written about Lowell in the library, and it seems it was probably from "Popular Astronomy"; the original is here:

http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/seri/PA.../0025//0000222.000.html

James