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,
William Lowell Putnam the Observatory staff. Putnam, however, had to make the final decision on the matter and he was the one to tell See that he had been dismissed. When Lowell returned to work in 1901, Putnam resumed his role as the financial and legal power behind the Observatory. He also continued his other business in Boston and New York City. When Lowell died in 1916, Putnam was placed in charge of investing Lowell's estate for the Observatory. Putnam died in June 1923, aged around 61, during Constance Lowell's attempt to contest Percival's will. Constance Lowell later asked William's son, Augustus, to