Is Mars Habitable?: A Critical Examination of Professor Percival Lowell's Book "Mars and Its Canals," with an Alternative Explanation
- ISBN-10
- 1414289278
- ISBN-13
- 9781414289274
- Pages
- 110
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1907
- Publisher
- Macmillan and Company, limited
- Author
- Alfred Russel Wallace
Description
The special point to which I here wish to call attention is this. Mr. Lowell's main contention is, that the surface of Mars is wonderfully smooth and level. Not only are there no mountains, but there are no hills or valleys or plateaux. This assumption is absolutely essential to support the other great assumption, that the wonderful network of perfectly straight lines over nearly the whole surface of the planet are irrigation canals. It is not alleged that irregularities or undulations of a few hundreds or even one or two thousands of feet could possibly be detected, while certainly all we know of planetary formation or structure point strongly towards some inequalities of surface.
