The Perfect Machine
Page 64
Mclfowell recommended by, 227
McDowell’s style and, 296, 328, 329, 331-332
Schmidt widefield telescope and, 282, 341
Woodbury’s book and, 331
in World War 11, 347, 348, 351, 352, 363
Mayall, Nicholas, 60
media and publicity, 100-103, 179, 217-219, 268, 359, 380-381
Corning and, 168-169, 181, 196-205, 208, 223-225, 236, 239-240, 244-247, 249, 250
and final trials and adjustments, 387, 392, 394
GE and, 142, 147, 162, 166-167, 168-169
mirror move and, 373, 374, 376, 378, 380
Westinghouse and, 284, 287-288, 290, 292, 314, 319
Mellon, Andrew, 102, 179
Mencken, H. L., 96, 104, 142, 359
Mendenhall, George, 210, 211, 230
Merriam, John C., 75-76, 78, 80, 83-88, 150, 151, 208, 217-219, 276, 335-336
Michelson, Albert, 30, 148, 178, 179
Michigan, University of, 139, 158, 165
Corning disk order of, 191, 223, 233, 237, 280
Millikan, Robert, 59, 92, t 13, 148, 150, 152, 159-160, 161, 274, 275-276, 314, 361, 391, 393
and Carnegie endowment of Palomar, 336, 337, 338, 339
disk manufacturing and, 157, 163, 165, 298
joint observatories directorship and, 358, 359, 360
Palomar grant and, 79, 80, 84, 88
Shapley’s attack on, 104-105
in World War II, 348, 349
Minkowski, Rudolph, 353-354, 404-405
rnirror, Palomar two-hundred-inch:
astigmatism in, 325-327, 341, 386, 398, 412
center plug for, 300
coating and recoating of, 328, 381-386, 398, 413
design team for, 179-180, 276
disk for, see Corning Glass Works; General Electric
Ellis’s doubts GE work on, 134-135
final trials and adjustments of, 386-392, 394-398
fractures and checks in, 274, 277-283, 298-299, 325, 412
grinding of, 99, 116, 128, 133, 154, 155, 187, 269-272, 274, 277-283, 298-302, 323
installation of, 386
insurance of, 248, 373
materials considered for, 64-65, 74, 77, 80, 97-100, 111, 120-121
move of, to Palomar, 373-379
optical tests on, 323, 324-325, 344-346, 350, 365, 367, 390
optics and design of, 122-123, 129-130, 134-136, 179-180, 214
planning for, 95-100
polishing completed on, 367-369
polishing of, 99, 116, 155, 242-243, 323-325, 341, 344-346, 350, 351, 352, 365-369, 395-398
ribbed back for, 119-120, 135-136, 168, t 70, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 185
scars on disk for, 238-239, 240-241, 272
shipment of, to California, 247-254, 269
support system for, 239, 300-301, 326-327, 367, 386, 390-391, 392, 394, 412
work resumed on, after war, 365
mirrors, Palomar auxiliary, 126, 127, 134, 142, 182, 186, 187, 226, 320, 340, 369
Mobil, 318-319
Mochel, Norman, 287
Morey, George, 172
Morris Dam, 352, 364
Mosgrove, Alicia, 38
Mount Hamilton, see Lick Observatory
mounting, Palomar telescope, 226-227, 262-263, 281, 284-291, 314-315, 341-342, 346, 364, 366
assembly of, 316-319, 322, 370
bearings in, 216-217, 261-267, 312, 318-319, 371, 390
builders sought for, 226-227, 262-263, 286
carbon steel used for, 289
considerations in design of, 185-188
design of, 65, 120, 121, 123-125, 135, 136, 141, 143, 157, 185-188, 208, 212-217, 239, 261-268, 285, 308-312, 318-322, 328-329, 346, 370, 416
drive and control system of, 265, 266, 308-312, 319-322, 328-329, 341-342, 346, 364, 366, 370, 371, 386
fabrication of, 226-227, 262-263, 281, 284-291, 314-315, 341-342, 346, 364, 366
focus switching in, 186, 187, 320, 408
horseshoe design of, 212-214, 266-268, 289-290
Kroon’s design solutions for, 264-268
models in design of, 285
observation positions in, 187-188, 319, 389, 405, 407, 410
phantom telescope in, 321, 411
tubes in, 290-291
welded construction accepted for, 262
Westinghouse estimate for, 281
Westinghouse work on, 284-291, 297, 314-315, 346
Mount Palomar, see Palomar
Mount Wilson Contributions, 17
Mount Wilson Institute, 418
Mount Wilson Observatory, 2, 4, 13, 36-40, 75-76, 90, 99, 178, 304, 305, 335-340, 400, 401
adaptive optics at, 415-416
Caltech’s tense relations with, 150-151, 217-219, 335-340, 418
and Carnegie endowment of Palomar, 335-340, 358
Carnegie’s visit to, 44-45
completion of, 15
construction of, 37-39
drive and control system at, 309
electricity at, 316
embezzlement at, 218
first light at, 39
joint observatories system and, 358-361, 418
light pollution at, 106-107
Mars research and, 43-44
mothballing of, 418
observation procedures at, 68
observatory building at, 293, 322
one-hundred-inch project at, see Hooker telescope
Palomar grant and, 82, 83-88, 89
Palomar mirrors and, 125, 128, 132, 147
Palomar project administration and, 92, 112, 120, 217
Santa Barbara Street optics laboratory of, 38, 154, 242, 243, 257, 260, 335, 341, 389
seeing at, 53, 61, 106
Shapley appointed to, 5, 16
site selection and, 209
sixty-inch telescope project at, 37-39, 45—46
Solar Union meeting at, 46
staff of, 67-68
telescope drive at’, 61
women at, 306
in World War II, 353-355, 403
M31 (Andromeda), 20, 22, 62, 63, 67, 258, 302, 304, 305, 353, 354-355, 392, 397, 403
M32, 354-355
M33 (Triangulum), 20, 62, 63, 67, 302, 305
Murphy (CB&Q representative), 250
National Academy of Sciences (NAS), 50, 59, 71, 99, 124, 166, 167, 212, 226
debate at (1921), 3-12, 17-22, 61
Palomar grant and, 82-83
National Association of Science, 165
National Carbon Company, 140
National Defense Research Council (NDRC), 347, 352, 357
National Geographic Society, 397
National Research Council, 70, 71, 209
Naval Observatory, 70-71, 103, 129n
NBC, 197-198
nebulae, 61, 149, 302, 304, 354, 395
gaseous, 152-153, 361
novas and, 61, 62
red shift of, 66-69, 148-149, 240, 258, 303, 406
spiral, 19-22, 23n, 34, 61, 62, 63, 66-69, 110, 149
Neher, Victor, 152n
nervous exhaustion, 45
Newman, Ralph, 169, 170-171, 221, 239, 278
Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, 226-227, 262
Newton, Sir Isaac, 13, 28, 33, 34, 97
New York Central Railway (NYCRR), 233, 247-25 ra—
New York Herald Tribune, 96
New York n, nes, 64, 102, 103, 162, 225, 291, 313, 359, 374, 393
NGC2261, 395
NGC6822, 62-63
Niedergasse (engineer), 117
Nordberg, M. E., 183-184
novas, 61-63, 258, 281, 353
Noyes, Alfred, 52, 54, 56n, 418
Noyes, Arthur, 26, 59, 79, 92, 113, 148, 157, 160, 161, 162, 163
observatory building, Palomar, 208, 243, 306-307, 402
construction of, 293-295, 316
design of, 243-244, 293, 309, 402
drive and control system for, 295, 309, 319, 321-322, 393, 411
windscreen
in, 370-371
Observatory Council, 92, 112, 151, 161, 179, 208, 219, 281-282, 310-311
Corning Pyrex disk manufacturing and, 168, 173, 179, 182, 184, 188, 198, 200, 223, 239, 241, 272
endowment and, 335, 338
GE disk experiments and, 99-100, 118, 141, 157, 166, 174
Mason appointed head of, 276, 296
site selection and, 208, 211
Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), 357, 363
Oort, J. H., 386
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 72, 113, 358, 366
optics laboratory, Caltech California Street, 334
closing of, 389
plans and construction of, 125, 154-155, 160, 187, 195, 213, 243
workers at, 243, 269-270
in World War II, 347, 350
see also mirror, Palomar two-hundred-inch
optics laboratory, Mount Wilson Santa Barbara Street, 38, 154, 242, 243, 257, 260, 335, 341, 389
Ormondroyd, Jess, 263, 285
Oschin telescope, see Schmidt widefield telescopes
Osterhout, W. J. V., 11
Pacific Rigging, 375, 377
Page, James, 393
Palomar:
conditions on, 229-230, 255
description of, 108, 399-400, 401
development of, 209-210
land purchased on, 211
road built to, 211, 230, 292, 315, 373, 399
selected as site, 209-212
viewing conditions on, 109-110, 180, 209, 401-402
Palomar Observatory:
administration of, 76-77, 82-83, 90-91, 335-340
budget of, 418
electricity at, 316
endowment for, 91, 114, 131, 161, 335-340, 358
joint observatories and, 358-361, 418
residences at, 306, 315-316, 400-402
Schmidt widefield telescopes at, 257-261, 281-282, 304, 306-307, 331, 334, 340-341, 371, 380, 388, 397, 405, 417
site work for, 244, 255, 256, 292
staff at, 413
tourists at, 317-318, 372, 399-400
women at, 305-306
Palomar (Hale) telescope:
astronomers’ impatience for, 396
charge-coupled devices (CCDs) used in, 408, 410, 417
clock drive for, 215-216
debate on usefulness of, 74
dedication ceremony for, 392-394
description of, 402-403
exercised during war, 352
final trials and adjustments of, 371, 381, 386-392, 394-398, 403-404
first images from, 395
first light of, 386-387
instrumentation for, 281, 308, 335, 388, 407-411, 416
maintenance of, 412-413, 418
as model for other telescopes, 414
operation of, after completion, 399-419
see also mirror, Palomar two-hundred-inch; mounting, Palomar telescope; observatory building, Palomar
Palomar (Hale) telescope project:
astronomers’ concerns about engineers’ role in, 329
budget of, 154, 281, 350, 364, 379, 385, 387-389, 391-392
building designs for, 125, 151, 213, 243, 256, 293; see also California Institute of Technology; observatory building, Palomar
committees of, 92, 112, 120, 228, 295
construction for, 255-257, 260
grant obtained for, 70-88, 91, 281, 313, 335
laborers for, 229-230, 255-257, 260, 292-293, 315, 343-344
McDowell’s transformation of, 227-229
media and, see media and publicity
project headquarters established for, 92
religious opposition to, 101, 103, 130, 160, 201, 374
seeing tests in, 107, 108
site selection in, 108-111, 180, 208, 209-212
team assembled for, 92-95
time estimates for, 208, 299, 334, 342
Woodbury’s book about, 244-245, 329-331
in World War II, 343-352, 357-361, 363-364
see also Observatory Council
Panama Canal, 41
Paris Exhibition (1900), 33
Parsons, Sir Charles, 121, 128
Pease, Francis, 73, 111, 118, 120, 121, 123, 124, 125, 129, 136, 141, 143, 144, 150, 154, 157, 158, 178-179, 185, 187, 212, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 230, 261, 262, 264, 267, 275, 276, 335, 382
background of, 92-93
Corning Pyrex disk manufacturing and, 200, 202, 208, 225, 244
death of, 312, 314
disk shipment and, 253
Hooker telescope mounting of, 53, 56, 166, 185
McDowell’s style disliked by, 228-229, 295, 296, 297
optics and, 123
Porter’s hiring and, 94-95
three-hundred-inch telescope plans of, 64, 65, 70, 75, 76, 77, 92-93
in Woodbury’s book, 331
Pease, Mrs. Francis, 225
Pendray, Edward, 288
Perkins Observatory, 95-96, 139, 140
Perrine, Charles, 62-63
Philips Lamp Works, 97, 128
Pickering, Edward, 13-14, 26, 37
Poitras, Edward, 320-321, 336
Porter, Cole, 148
Porter, Russell W., 118, 124, 125, 132, 141, 143, 166, 185, 187, 188, 213, 216, 227, 244-245, 265, 270, 285, 316-317, 322, 334, 370, 410n
astrophysics laboratory designed by, 125, 151, 213
background of, 93-94
camping trips organized by, 268
at first light, 386
growing isolation and bitterness of, 213-214, 393
hiring of, 94-95
McDowell’s style disliked by, 295
mirror support mechanism and, 327
observatory building designed by, 243-244, 293, 402
optics laboratory designed by, 154, 155, 213, 243
residence designed by, 306
Schmidt widefield telescope and, 259, 260
seeing-test telescope designed by, 107, 180
in Woodbury’s book, 331
Price, Anne McCauley, 176, 393-394
publicity, see media and publicity
Pupin, Michael, 148
Pyrex disks, see Corning Glass Works
quartz disks:
Corning work with, 415
see also General Electric
quasars, 406
Quigley, Leon V., 197, 198, 200, 205, 223, 224, 241, 246
Rabi, Isidor, 72
radio, 197-198, 245; see also wireless
railroads, 247-253
Ray ton, W. B., 68
Reader’s Digest, 329
red shift, 66-69, 148-149, 240, 258, 303, 406, 418
red stars, 354-355
reflector telescopes, 28, 33
refractor telescopes, 28-29, 33-34
relativity, 3-4, 8, 65-66, 69, 148-149, 151-152, 153
Richie, Robert, 246
Richter, Charles, 209
Riggs, Dr., 58
Ritchey, George W., 35, 38, 39, 61, 96, 98-99, 123, 128-129, 414, 415
Hale’s dispute with, 48
Hooker telescope project and, 42, 46, 47-49, 50, 55
sanctimoniousness of, 50-51
Robertson, A. W., 291
Robinson, Henry, 84, 92, 331
endowment committed by, 91, 114, 131, 161, 335
GE disks and, 100, 132-133, 157, 163
Palomar land purchased by, 211
Robinson, William, 339
Rockefeller, John D., 36, 71, 73, 336
Carnegie’s rivalry with, 81-82, 86
Palomar grant and, 81, 82, 88
Rockefeller Foundation, 85, 104, 105, 111, 158, 159, 165, 276, 282, 298, 313
budget problems and, 364, 379, 385, 387-388, 391-392
and Carnegie endowment of Palomar, 335-340
creation of, 81-82
General Education Board of, 71-80, 158, 276
Harvard College Observatory and, 60
International Education Board of, 71-88, 89, 91, 92, 105, 110, 114, 132, 158, 208, 259, 276
Pal
omar project inherited by, 153
World War II and, 348, 350
Roebling, John, 41
Rogers, Will, 148
Rintgen, Wilhelm, 59
Roosevelt, Franklin, 197, 347, 348
Roosevelt, Theodore, 36, 45
Root, Elihu, 36, 45, 83
Palomar grant and, 85-87, 218, 336
Rose, Wickliffe, 71-88, 89, 91-92, 100, 105, 106, 110, 111, 134, 153, 158, 389
Ross, Frank E., 123, 214, 345, 401
Rosse, Lord, 20, 97
Rule, Bruce, 311, 342, 352, 363, 364, 370-371, 376, 379, 386, 389-390, 391, 392n, 393, 403
Runyon, Damon, 197
Ruocco, Joe, 224, 225
Russell, Henry Norris, 12, 14, 21, 22, 50, 59, 63, 76, 107
Rutherford, Ernest, 105
Saint-Gobain glassworks, 35, 42, 43, 46
Sandage, Allan, 404, 405, 406, 418
San Diego, Calif., 212, 401
Santa Fe railroad, 247, 376
Schiaparelli, Giovanni, 44
Schmidt, Bernhard, 258-260, 281
Schmidt, Maarten, 406, 418
Schmidt widefield telescopes, 152, 304, 354, 392, 404
Palomar eighteen-inch, 257-261, 281, 304, 306-307, 331, 405
Palomar forty-eight-inch (Oschin), 281-282, 334, 340-341, 371, 380, 388, 397, 417, 418
Schrodinger, Erwin, 72, 148
Schuller, Robert B., 114
science, American in 1920s, 89-90
Americans’ view of, 7-8, 159-160
Scientific American, 31, 93, 125, 213, 225, 328
Seares, Frederick, 5, 123, 129, 217
Seares, Robert, 405
Serrurier, Mark, 227, 230, 261, 262, 267, 286, 287, 289-290, 293, 294, 295, 311, 315, 316, 364, 390, 414, 415
background of, 214-215
McDowell’s style disliked by, 295, 296-297
marriage proposal of, 307
Serrurier, Naomi, 307
Shapley, Harlow, 54, 63, 64, 67, 109, 115, 120, 147, 302, 305, 374, 381, 392, 403
appointed Harvard College Observatory director, 59-60
background of, 5
Cepheid research and, 13-17
considered for joint observatories directorship, 359, 361
Corning disk order of, 191, 223, 280
GE disk criticized by, 155-156, 161
Hale’s interview of, 50
Hale symposium of, 313
NAS debate and, 2-12, 17-23, 61
Palomar project criticized by, 96, 101, 104-105, 142, 223, 394, 403
Southern Station supported by, 105, 110, 111
Woodbury’s book and, 330
Shapley, Martha Betz, 5
Shapley, Mildred, 16
Sherburne, G. W., 125, 253, 265, 287
Silberstein, Ludwik, 67
Simonson, D. H., 251
Sinclair, Upton, 114
SKF Industries, 243
Sliphcr, Vesto, 66, 69
Small Magellanic Cloud, Cepheids in, 14, 15, 17
Smith, Gerald L. K., 219
Smith, R. D., 183-184
Smith, Sinclair “Smitty,” 150, 152, 215-216, 218, 230, 296, 297, 328, 329, 335, 336