Transcriber’s Notes:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
THE EVOLUTION OF WORLDS
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO
ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., Limited
LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO
THE EVOLUTION OF WORLDS
BY
PERCIVAL LOWELL, A.B., LL.D.
AUTHOR OF “MARS AND ITS CANALS,” “MARS AS THE ABODE OF LIFE,” ETC.
DIRECTOR OF THE OBSERVATORY AT FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA; NON-RESIDENT
PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY; FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES;
MEMBRE DE LA SOCIÉTÉ ASTRONOMIQUE DE FRANCE; MEMBER OF THE
ASTRONOMICAL AND ASTROPHYSICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA; MITGLIED
DER ASTRONOMISCHE GESELLSCHAFT; MEMBRE DE LA SOCIÉTÉ
BELGE D’ASTRONOMIE; HONORARY MEMBER OF THE SOCIEDAD
ASTRONOMICA DE MEXICO; JANSSEN MEDALLIST OF THE
SOCIÉTÉ ASTRONOMIQUE DE FRANCE, 1904, FOR
RESEARCHES ON MARS; MEDALLIST OF THE
SOCIEDAD ASTRONOMICA DE MEXICO FOR
STUDIES ON MARS, 1908
ILLUSTRATED
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1909
All rights reserved
Copyright, 1909,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published December, 1909.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
TO
THE PRESIDENT OF THE
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
TO MY COLLEAGUES THERE
AND TO ITS STUDENT BODY
TO WHOSE INTEREST AND ATTENTION THESE
LECTURES ARE INDEBTED
THEY ARE APPRECIATIVELY INSCRIBED[Pg vi]
“Si je n’étais pas devenu général en chef et l’instrument du sortd’un grand people, j’aurais couru les bureaux et les salons pour memettre dans la dépendance de qui que ce fût, en qualité de ministreou d’ambassadeur? Non, non! je me serais jeté dans l’étude dessciences exactes. J’aurais fait mon chemin dans la route des Galilée,des Newton. Et puisque j’ai réussi constamment dans mes grandesentreprises, eh bien, je me serais hautement distingué aussi pardes travaux scientifiques. J’aurais laissé le souvenir de bellesdécouvertes. Aucune autre gloire n’aurait pu tenter mon ambition.”
[Pg vii]The substance of the following pages was written and presented in auniversity course of lectures before the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology—