Mars and its canals

Description

Published after the success of "Mars" (1896), Mars and Its Canals continued Lowell's hypothesis on the existence of canal-like structures on the surface of Mars. Although his theories are now widely discredited, Lowell undoubtedly contributed greatly both to the advancement of astronomy (building one of the first observatories in North America), to the discovery of the planet Pluto (in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh) and to popular literature (it is said that H. G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" was directly inspired by his findings, and the author reached the fairly natural conclusion that extraterrestrials from a dying planet might want to invade another one). Some of the most interesting hypotheses can be found in the chapters on Vegetation (in which he postulates that the blue-green areas observable on the planet are not oceans, but vast forests) and "Life" (concluding that the presence of water and other life forms requires more intelligent beings).