The idea of life on Mars in the 21st century is generally the stuff of science fiction or children's cartoons, but at the turn of the 20th Century most people believed that there were canals on Mars built by intelligent life. Were they were watching us here on Earth? Could we communicate with them via the new wireless radio? Newspapers as reputable as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal routinely published headlines contemplating aspects of Martian life, and amateur astronomers packed lecture halls with their thrilling talks on the red planet.

Chief among them was Percival Lowell, a wealthy young man whose fancy had always been with the stars and the endless expanse of the galaxy. Nikola Tesla was in the picture too (often disagreeing with Lowell's theories), as was H.G. Wells. They all followed the publications of Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. It was Schiaparelli who first identified the "canali" on our neighboring planet, a label that was mistranslated into "canals". But what if there were canals on Mars? What would it imply about the sophistication and mastery of their world of creatures with the ability to build perfectly straight structures that ran for thousands of miles?

The concept fired the world's imagination. Casual astronomers routinely traveled the globe to get better views of astronomical events like eclipses. Lowell, blessed with great riches thanks to his wealthy family, built an observatory in Arizona, then another in South America, the better to see and map those canals. But what he saw with his limited telescopes was as much an optical illusion as the actual features of the distant planet, and ultimately his entire theory of intelligent life was disproven.

Science writer David Baron offers up a fascinating history of this era of Martian fever, approximately the late 1800s up to the 1920s, when wars and other global matters pushed the imagined Martians off the front pages and out of people's drawing rooms and casual conversations. The book is very focused on Lowell, however, suggesting that it might be better with the subtitle "How Percival Lowell ignited Western imaginations about the red planet" or similar. Still, a very engaging read, recommended for space enthusiasts and people who are intrigued by how crowds and groupthink can influence the national agenda and conversation.

Reading this felt like stepping into a different era, one where science was as much an adventure as it was an intellectual pursuit. Baron follows three major figures—James Craig Watson, Maria Mitchell, and Thomas Edison—as they chase the total eclipse of 1878 across the American West. What makes it so compelling is how he weaves together personal ambition, scientific rivalry, and the wild optimism of a country expanding both westward and intellectually.

As someone who's always been curious about space but not especially well-versed in astronomy, I appreciated how accessible Baron made everything. He never dumbs anything down, but he makes the science feel immediate, even urgent. I found myself rooting for these long-dead scientists the same way I root for characters in a good novel.

What stood out most to me was Maria Mitchell’s story—a woman leading an all-female team of astronomers at a time when women weren’t even welcome in most scientific circles. Her determination added an unexpected emotional thread to the book, and I wish she were more widely known today.

This wasn’t just a history lesson or a science book—it was a reminder of how awe-inspiring the universe can be, and how human curiosity has always pushed us to reach for the stars, even before we fully understood what they were. I finished the book with a deeper appreciation for the cosmos—and with a firm decision to see a total solar eclipse in person someday.

An excellent look at the late Victorian / early Edwardian through the lens of the people studying Mars and how it became a part of the shared culture in a way that never really left the public sphere. All sorts of famous people pop up here - Tesla, Teddy Roosevelt, Emily Dickenson, Queen Victoria, Percival Lowell, H. G. Wells, and more, all fascinated with Mars, and as always, Mars acting very much as a mirror to current hopes and fears.

This is a sprawling narrative (covering decades and involving such intriguing people as H.G. Wells & Nikola Tesla!) focused on how the bold claims of one Percival Lowell (that Mars held intelligent life), spread so far and wide in popular culture. It was fascinating to read about this hoax, and see just how many people got drawn into the argument. This all might have happened ages ago, but this 'Martian myth' read as very modern.
The conclusion of the book was a little more hopeful than the overall narrative, showing that despite Lowell's false claims, his work DID inspire others in the future to study & explore Mars.

The Martians by David Baron has a sub-title that implies a National Enquirer-style lurid story of alien shenanigans. Simply not the case. Instead you get the compelling story of those who genuinely believed Mars may be a place where aliens lived. The believers whose stories Baron tells in a respectful and interesting way, one in particular, dedicated their lives to learning more. This was done without the benefit of high-powered telescopes, space travel, or the internet. It's a fascinating read. Even better is that it laid the groundwork for why Mars fascinates us today. Thank you to #netgalley and #liveright for the opportunity to preview this book.