IS MARS HABITABLE? A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF PROFESSOR PERCIVAL LOWELL'S BOOK "MARS AND ITS CANAL," WITH AN ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATION
London: Macmillan, 1907. Item #41920
1st edition. Small 8vo. original green publisher's cloth with gilt lettered spine. xii, 110, [2 ads.] pages. Includes frontis & 1 plate. A contemporary response to the theories of Lowell on the likelihood of life on Mars and theories about supposed canals on its surface. Written in refutation to Percival Lowell's “Mars and Its Canals” (1906), this work argues that life, as we know it, cannot exist elsewhere in the universe. Wallace (1823-1913) was a contemporary of Charles Darwin who independently came up with the idea of 'Natural Selection.' Charles H. Smith wrote about this work, "For many years one of Wallace's least remembered books, Is Mars Habitable? is increasingly being recognized as one of the first examples of the proper application of the scientific method to the study of extraterrestrial atmospheres and geography--that is, as one of the pioneer works in the field of exobiology." Offset darkening to blank front endpaper (from a laid in paper), otherwise gorgeous with very litle wear, just the faintest shelf wear at the corners. A beautiful copy of this important work, Very Good+ Condition. (MX-38-3).
Price: $700.00