Mars: Illusions, Canals, and the Evidence-Driven Quest for Life
To the point
People have long been fascinated by Mars—from 19th‑century canal fantasies and Giovanni Schiaparelli’s maps to Percival Lowell’s belief in intelligent Martians, with Alfred Russel Wallace arguing Mars is too cold for life—an interest that deepened as Mariner and Viking probes revealed a cratered world, the Face on Mars myth and conspiracies spread by Richard Hoagland, and Carl Sagan’s warning that science must separate data from wishful thinking, while Curiosity’s imagery continues to refine our understanding even as sensational claims persist.
