A Man, a Plan, a Canal—Mars!

The podcast explores the late 19th-century Martian craze, driven by Percival Lowell's theory of an advanced civilization on Mars. Lowell, from a prominent family, built an observatory and popularized the idea of Martian canals, which he believed were part of a planet-wide irrigation system. Despite skepticism from other astronomers, Lowell's articulate presentations and the sensationalist press fueled public fascination. Nikola Tesla's reported reception of strange signals further amplified the craze. As David Barron explains, the belief in Martians resonated with the era's anxieties and a desire for a more morally advanced society. Ultimately, improved telescopes and astronomers like Eugène Michel Antoniadi debunked the canals, though Lowell never conceded.