Percival Lowell Percival Lowell Percival Lawrence Lowell (; March 13, 1855 – November 12, 1916) was an American businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars. He founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona and formed the beginning of the effort that led to the discovery of Pluto 14 years after his death. Percival Lowell was born on March 13, 1855, in Boston, Massachusetts, the first son of Augustus Lowell and Katherine Bigelow Lowell. A member of the Brahmin Lowell family, his siblings included the poet Amy Lowell, the educator and legal scholar Abbott Lawrence Lowell,
Fox Observatory Fox Observatory Fox Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by South Florida Amateur Astronomers Association. It is located in Sunrise, Florida (US). In the late 1960s, Dr. Joseph Dennison Fox, Professor of Astronomy and History, completed his tenure at the University of Puerto Rico, and with his wife Sylvia, retired to North Miami. He brought with him an optical tube assembly for a 6-inch f/15 refractor. This telescope, in its updated and restored state, now resides in the Fox Observatory, on the grounds of Markham Park. The lens and original tube assembly were built by Chester Brandon, renowned