Percival Lowell and his strange research

Percival Lowell (1855-1916) C.1904
(Wikipedia)

Percival Lowell and his strange research

Percival Lowell (1855-1916) was a writer, mathematician, businessman, and wealthy amateur astronomer. That man is famous for stories of the water canals on planet Mars and the search of the ninth planet. The fact about the Lowell is the thing, what makes the mystery, is that somebody believed his stories about Martian canals? 

Percival Lowell was an amateur astronomer, and everybody who has similar equipment in use could make sure that the Martian canals were a hoax. So why some people believe that person. 

The claiming about the Martian canals were so absurd, that we can just imagine, why nobody ever took a telescope and then look at Mars? But there are two explanations for those canals that might say that Lowell didn't lie, and he saw straight lines. 

1) Lowell could accidentally observe the Europa moon of Jupiter, and maybe he thought that Europa was Mars. 

2) The ocular or some other part of the optics of telescope that Lowell used was damage. Those damages could be errors in the polishing of the optics. And that means that the scratches that were in the mirrors or lenses of ocular might seem the canals. 

Martian canals depicted by Percival Lowell
(Wikipedia).

But when we are thinking about the background of Lowell that man was the mathematician. He knew how to calculate things like trajectories. That means that Lowell was also a scientist, but not an astronomer. And Lowell should know things like systematic project work. The fact is that Lowell was also a writer and businessman. 

How Lowell even thought that the canals of Mars made by an intelligent race? He used his own Lowell observatory in his work, and there were 60 cm telescope in his use but the question is if Lowell lied, he should know that everybody can make similar observations by using similar equipment and prove that man as a liar?

Before we justify Lowell too harsh, we must realize that he was the man who began work, what was conduct to find dwarf planet Pluto in 1930. One interesting detail of that thing is that  in 1930, Clyde Tombaugh, working at the Lowell Observatory, discovered Pluto near the location expected for Planet X. 

Maybe the answer about the mystery of Martian canals, or rather the thing that somebody believed them is found from the book named "Mars and its canals". The question is about the purpose of that book. Was it meant fact or fiction? Or in some wildest theories, Percival Lowell wanted to set the bait to aliens. He wanted to face those creatures face to face. Was that theory hoax or true? The answer to that knows only one person in the world and that person carried the name Percival Lowell. 

Sources: 

Biography of Percival Lowell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_Lowell

Planet Pluto

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto

Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_Lowell