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  • 7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly

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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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  • 7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly

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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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  • 7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly

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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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  • 7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly

    6/17

    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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  • 7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly

    7/17

    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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  • 7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly

    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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  • 7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly

    9/17

    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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    10/17

    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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  • 7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly

    11/17

    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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  • 7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly

    12/17

    208 K. M. D.

    Lane

    Imago

    Mundi

    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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  • 7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly

    13/17

    Imago

    Mundi58:2 2006

    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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  • 7/26/2019 Canals of Mars - Scholarly

    14/17

    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