James E. Homans, editor

“ He sent an expedition to the Andes to photograph Mars in 1907, and at his observatory at Flagstaff, in the Arizona desert, he made careful studies of the planet, which have resulted in a number of important discoveries. Professor Lowell is the chief exponent of the theory of the Martian canals, and advanced many arguments to prove the existence of an advanced state of civilization on that planet. He followed Schiaparelli in the statement that there were 104 canals on Mars, but in 1906 announced that he had discovered 550 such canals and that they were the work of organic life. ”

“ He received his early education in private schools in Boston and was graduated at Harvard College in 1876. In 1883 he helped to form the Mathematical and Physical Club of Boston, and in the same year he went to Japan, where he continued to reside more or less regularly until 1893. ”