How did Percival Lowell interpret Giovanni Schiaparelli's observation of *canali*?

Vast, artificial waterways constructed by an intelligent, dying civilization.

Percival Lowell became famously captivated by the faint linear features noted by Giovanni Schiaparelli, which Schiaparelli termed *canali*, meaning 'channels'. Lowell, however, extrapolated this observation far beyond natural processes, concluding that these features represented massive, artificial engineering works. Specifically, he theorized they were constructed by an intelligent, yet dying, Martian civilization attempting a desperate measure: moving scarce water resources from the planet's poles toward the warmer equatorial regions where life might still persist. This interpretation was based on visual data gathered through early telescope optics and heavily influenced public perception of an inhabited Mars, despite the lack of robust physical proof.