Photo de l'auteur

Percival Lowell (1855–1916)

Auteur de Occult Japan: Shinto, Shamanism and the Way of the Gods

14+ oeuvres 122 utilisateurs 2 critiques

A propos de l'auteur

American astronomer Percival Lowell was born in Boston of a patrician New England family. His sister was the noted poet Amy Lowell. Educated at Harvard University, he established an observatory in Arizona in 1894 (known now as Lowell Observatory). Lowell is best known, however, for his observations afficher plus of Mars. His advocacy of the presence of intelligent life on Mars had a considerable impact on astronomy during the early twentieth century. Mars is the only planet in the solar system whose surface is directly visible from earth. Lowell and others spent many long nights peering through telescopes at the planet, and they interpreted the random pattern of light and dark areas as a network of dark lines girdling the red planet. These long dark lines turned out to be optical illusions, as was shown by a number of American spacecraft that took close-up photographs of the planet during the 1960's and 1970's. Lowell, however, was a vocal proponent of the idea that these lines were a network of globe-girdling canals, and the clear implication was that the planet harbored a species of intelligent beings. Although public interest was galvanized by Lowell's discoveries and by his popular books, the astronomy community was less receptive to his ideas. Lowell was also known for his prediction of the existence of a ninth planet in the solar system. That planet, Pluto, was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. (Bowker Author Biography) afficher moins

Comprend les noms: Professor Percival Lowell

Notice de désambiguation :

(eng) Full name: Percival Lawrence Lowell

Crédit image: 1904 photograph (LoC Prints and Photographs, LC-USZ62-94153)

Œuvres de Percival Lowell

Explorateur d'oeuvres

Oeuvres associées

Mars, We Love You (1971) — Contributeur — 110 exemplaires

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Membres

Critiques

The Solar System : Six Lectures Delivered at the… par Percival Lowell
Not, of course, a book to be read now to learn of the Solar System, but it gives a perspective on what was known, or thought to be known, back in 1902.

Not that Lowell's ideas where necessarily the scientific consensus. In particular, he presents his vision of an inhabited and be-canal'd Mars as proven beyond reasonable doubt; in actuality it was very much disputed by other astronomers of the time - and of course eventually completely disproved.
 
Signalé
AndreasJ | Apr 22, 2017 |
Mars as the Abode of Life par Percival Lowell
Scientifically, Lowell's ideas were heterodox already when he wrote this in 1908: today they're so outré as to make the book read as much like an exercise in world-building as like the popsci book it was meant to be.

One can easily see why he made a splash in popular consciousness however - in addition to the excitement inherent in his vision of a Mars populated by an advanced civilization of canal-builders, he's a genuinely good popsci writer, communicating his ideas with clarity and vividness.… (plus d'informations)
1 voter
Signalé
AndreasJ | Jul 7, 2014 |
Voir davantage de critiques

Listes

Listepiles

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi

Auteurs associés

Statistiques

Œuvres
14
Aussi par
1
Membres
122
Popularité
#163,289
Évaluation
½ 3.6
Critiques
2
ISBN
45

Tableaux et graphiques

Voir plus de tableaux et graphiques