Percival Lowell (March 13, 1855 to November 12, 1916) was an author, mathematician, and esteemed astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and formed the beginning of the work and theories that led to the discovery of Pluto 14 years after his death.
Lowell was also interested in the Orient, especially Korea and Japan. In the 1880s he traveled extensively in East Asia, becoming counselor and foreign secretary to the Korean Special Mission to the United States. He also spent significant periods of time in Japan, writing books on Japanese religion, psychology, and behavior. His texts are filled with observations and academic discussions of various aspects of Japanese life, including language, religious practices, economics, and the development of personality. Influenced heavily by the theories of Herbert Spencer, Lowell argued that the Japanese language, about which he made keen observations, indicated an utter lack of personality among the Japanese, and that the Western world, compared with the East, represented the culmination of the progress of civilization. In 1893, Lowell left Japan and resumed his interests in astronomy.
Bibliography:
- Choson, Land of the Morning Calm: A Sketch of Korea, by Percival Lowell, Boston, 1886.
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