BIROn - Birkbeck Institutional Research Online

    A complicated relationship: an introduction to the correspondence between Percival Lowell and Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli

    Putnam, Jennifer and Sheehan, W. (2021) A complicated relationship: an introduction to the correspondence between Percival Lowell and Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage 24 (1), pp. 170-227. ISSN 1440-2807.

    [img]
    Preview
    Text
    2021JAHH...24..170P.pdf - Published Version of Record

    Download (2MB) | Preview

    Abstract

    From 1896 until Schiaparelli’s death in 1910, Percival Lowell and Giovanni Schiaparelli exchanged letters, telegrams, packages, and postcards apprising them of each other’s work and commenting on the other’s latest theories. Lowell, who greatly admired Schiaparelli’s astronomical career, wrote in search of approval for his oft-criticized theories about the perceived presence of canals and vegetation on Mars. Schiaparelli, who courted many theories about Mars but never truly invested himself entirely in one, gently guided Lowell to see other possibilities or recognize faults in his work, criticism that Lowell took with difficulty from others but accepted from Schiaparelli. The correspondence, translated from the original French here and made newly available to the public, shows a complex but respectful, warm, and gentlemanly relationship between two giants of Martian astronomy.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies
    Depositing User: Jennifer Putnam
    Date Deposited: 03 Nov 2022 11:35
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 18:18
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/49558

    Statistics

    Activity Overview
    6 month trend
    110Downloads
    6 month trend
    80Hits

    Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.

    Archive Staff Only (login required)

    Edit/View Item Edit/View Item