A photograph of Percival Lowell at work in his observatory. He produced the first good photograph of Mars in 1907. His studies lead him to believe that there were pronounced canals on Mars that were constructed by intelligent beings. He proposed that they were constructed for the purpose of transporting water from the polar regions to the more populated areas. The Proposed canals were optical illusions, but due to his high standing in the scientific world, his theory was not questioned for many years. It was these ideas that formed the "Hollywood" images of Mars.