Percival Lowell was a well-known businessman, mathematician, author, and astronomer. He is the founder of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. He is also well known for popularizing the idea that Mars had life. His ideas had an immense impact on science fiction, as well as science itself. Not only that, Lowell’s search for “Planet-X” led to the discovery of Pluto.
On March 13, 1855, Percival Lowell was born in Cambridge, to a wealthy Bostonian family. His parents were Augustus Lowell, a president of cotton companies and director of banks, and Katherine Bigelow Lawrence, daughter of Abbott Lawrence, a textile manufacturer and founder of the city of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Percival Lowell was very well educated, having attended and graduated Noble and Greenough School in 1872, as well as Harvard University, graduating in 1876 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics. Interestingly, his graduation speech was about the formation of the solar system, which showed that, even then, he was interested in astronomy. He was later awarded honorary LL.D degrees from Amherst College in 1907 and Clark University in 1909. His brother, Abbot Lawrence Lowell, went on to become the president of Harvard, while his sister, Amy Lowell, helped introduce new poetry into America. He then took the customary grand tour of Europe, though he traveled farther than most--all the way to Syria. Once he completed college, Lowell worked in his family’s textile business for six years. A lecture concerning Japan in 1882 inspired Lowell to travel to the Far East. He served as a foreign secretary to the Korean Special Mission, part of the first Korean diplomatic mission, in 1883. He later wrote a number of books on the Far East. Books by Percival Lowel...
... middle of paper ...
...rst two letters of the name Pluto-was chosen as the planet’s astronomical symbol. Unfortunately, we learn later that Lowell’s Planet X theory is incorrect. In 1978, Pluto’s mass was found with the discovery of Charon, Pluto’s moon. Pluto, being a small planet, would have weak gravity. Therefore, this diminutive gravity could not affect the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. The International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet in 2006. It was also revealed later that the strange orbits of Uranus and Neptune were due to the erroneous value of Neptune’s mass.
In conclusion, not one of Percival Lowell’s theories was ever right. However, he left behind a legacy for future space pioneers, as well as being a symbol of hope. He has also left behind a legacy for the public, which has never seemed to have gotten rid of the notion that there is life on Mars.
“Nathaniel Hawthorne – Biography.” The European Graduate School. The European Graduate School, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014
After realizing how intricately placed the night sky was, he introduced the many theories people have accepted as to how our universe was created. “Life originated by accident” was the first theory in which he disproved by quoting scientists and what they believe about this theory. Dr. Edwin Conklin, Professor of Biology at Princeton University, said “The probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing shop” (Donyes np).
...ostly remembered for his eccentric lifestyle. His prosthetic nose made of precious metals is a familiar tale. The story of his pet moose lives on, even though the moose did not. His ignominious death is almost common knowledge. Even as far as his astronomical work is concerned, outside of the scientific community, he is perhaps best-known for his geoheliocentric universe, which was later so strongly disproven by his own assistant.
Neptune was discovered through a discrepancy in Uranus’s orbit. Uranus’s orbit was not moving how astronomers predicted it would. They could not find an elliptical orbit that fit Uranus’s trajectory. They therefore assumed that there had to be another planet that’s gravitational pull was effecting Uranus. Johann Galle was the first to find Neptune in 1846, even though many before him had mathematically predicted where this new planet would be. The planet was named Neptune and two astronomers who had predicted mathematically where it would be are credited with finding it not Galle.
The ninth planet Pluto lost its planetary status when it did not “make the cut” after The International Astronomical Union collaborated in Prague to finalize the definition of the word planet. The International Astronomical Union decided that there are eight planetary bodies in Earth’s solar system and that Pluto should be categorized as a dwarf planet. Online newspaper articles from 2006, the year The International Astronomical Union met in Prague, up until 2012 emphasize how the demotion of Pluto was presented to the general public. The articles covered within this six year span emphasize the more scientific aspect of the media’s portrayal of Pluto’s demotion. This timeline begins with the official demotion of ...
In the beginning, there was light...or maybe not. Perhaps it was darkness only disturbed by a big bang. Maybe the beginning hasn’t even happened yet. Maybe there is nothing and this is all some big illusion. Scientists, philosophers, and humans in general have been asking, wondering these very things since the moment they were able to think for themselves. Galileo, one of the most renowned scientists in history, did not start out asking these questions. He started out asking questions like, “Why must doctors know everything?” This is because way back in the days - before he was anyone even vaguely important, he was studying to become a doctor. Though, considering his potential, it would not have been a total loss for the scientific community if he had become Doctor Galileo. The truth of the matter is that Galileo Galilei was one of the smartest, most important scientists ever to wonder about the paradox that is our universe.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a philosopher and transcendentalist of the 19th century, composing controversial, philosophical and religious essays in order to inform people. Emerson was a strong influence on other personalities of his time, including American figures such as; “Henry Thoreau” and “Walt Whitman”. “Emerson’s father (William Emerson) influenced the good taste of Emerson’s essays due to he was a man of the church.” William died because of a stomach cancer just two weeks before Ralph Waldo fulfilled eight years old. This death leads the family to an edge of poverty and a life of limited luxuries. That’s the point when Emerson’s career began. “His mother managed so that all of her children could get accepted into Harvard University with scholarships.” There was Ralph's stop when he was only fourteen years old. In Harvard College he was an apprentice under the president of the constitution. The task was to accuse his colleagues in criminal activity letting the ‘faculty’ know. Meanwhile, Emerson began keeping a list of books he had read and started a journal in a series of notebooks that would be called ‘World Wide’. Emerson performed odd jobs to cover his school expenses, including as a waiter for the Junior Commons and occasionally working as a teacher with his uncle Samuel in Waltham, Massachusetts. He began his famous Journal, an anthology and patchwork of passages that surprised and astonished his readers with their comments, ended up reaching 182 volumes. In his senior year at Harvard, Emerson decided to take his middle name as Waldo. He attended class Poetry; as usual, and presented an original poem on Harvard's Class Day, a month before his official graduation. On August 29, 1821, when he was 18 not noted as a student he...
Although Pluto was discovered in 1930, limited information on the distant planet delayed a realistic understanding of its characteristics. Today Pluto remains the only planet that has not been visited by a spacecraft, yet an increasing amount of information is unfolding about this peculiar planet. The uniqueness of Pluto's orbit, rotational relationship with its satellite, spin axis, and light variations all give the planet a certain appeal.
His pursuit of knowledge became even more important when he entered the university of Ingolstadt. He "read with ardour" (35) and soon become "so ardent and eager that the stars often disappeared in the light of the morning whilst I was yet engaged in my laboratory" (35). He was a proud product of the Enlightenment...
Have you ever looked up in the sky and wondered if there is life elsewhere in the universe? Have you ever looked at a photograph of Mars and wondered if there really was ever life on it? People have a wide variety of opinions regarding these questions and with good reason. As far back as the broadcast of H. G. Well's novel, "The War of the Worlds", the world has been fascinated with the possibilities of what Mars may hold. Over time, the majority of people have come to realize that there is no way that life can currently be on Mars. Those who are uncertain think there may be microscopic bacteria underground.
Inventor and astronomer Galileo Galilei is one of the most well-known scientists in the history of the world. Galileo has been credited for many astonishing inventions such as the pendulum and the telescope. Through many years of research and studious acts, he discovered behaviors of the universe that still hold true today. Galileo, “the Father of Modern Science”, changed the world.
Pluto: A Planet of the Earth? Many issues have arisen from the debate over whether or not Pluto is a planet. Some astronomers say that Pluto should be classified as a “minor planet” due to its size, physical characteristics, and other factors. On the other hand, some astronomers defend Pluto’s planet status, citing several key features. Indeed, most of the problem is that there is no formal definition of a planet.
Carl Sagan is known as one of the most famous scientists of all time. He revolutionized how the world looked at space and the search for intelligent life beyond our planet. The author of many books, he is most known for Contact (which was adapted into a movie) and for the PBS documentary Cosmos. As one of America's most famous astronomers and science-fiction writers, Carl Sagan turned a life of science into one of the most critically successful scientific careers of the 20th century.
Galileo was probably the greatest astronomer, mathematician and scientist of his time. In fact his work has been very important in many scientific advances even to this day.