by David Baron
209 a theory he had devised just after totality: C. Abbe (1881:48); Daily Gazette (Colorado Springs), Aug. 7, 1878, p. 4 [reprinted in Weekly Gazette (Colorado Springs), Aug. 10, 1878, p. 5].
209 a full 461 pages: Abbe submitted his report on Oct. 17, 1878 [WB NC-3, Entry 8, vol. 9, pp. 376–77; a note in the margin reads “One enclosure (461 pages . . .)”].
210 put a stop to the whole project: C. Abbe (1881:3).
210 “Was ever [an] astronomer”: Chicago Daily Tribune, Aug. 15, 1878, p. 4.
210 periodicals in London: Echo (London), Aug. 30, 1878, p. 2; Cornhill, Dec. 1878, pp. 714–22.
210 “I regard this eclipse”: Nature 18 (461), Aug. 29, 1878, p. 460.
210 “which American men, and American instruments”: Smyth to Draper, Sept. 27, 1878 [HMAPDP].
211 Woman’s Congress, this time in Providence: For general information on the meeting, see Providence Daily Journal, Oct. 10, 1878, p. 1 and p. 2; Boston Daily Globe, Oct. 10, 1878, p. 2; Providence Daily Journal, Oct. 11, 1878, p. 1; Woman’s Journal, Oct. 19, 1878; AAW (1879). Ticket sales reported in AAW (1880).
211 Mitchell ascended and drew three circles in chalk: Providence Daily Journal, Oct. 12, 1878, p. 1; Woman’s Words, Nov. 1878, p. 300.
211 “In a total eclipse of the sun”: All quotations are from Mitchell’s original lecture notes [MMM Reel 4, Item 33]. The speech also appears in Kendall (1896:223–32), in slightly edited form.
212 “not the flitting of the cloud shadow”: In transcribing her sister’s handwriting, Kendall (1896:232) interpreted this phrase to read “not the flitting of the closer shadow.”
212 “conclusive proof”: Inter Ocean (Chicago), Oct. 26, 1878, p. 9.
212 “Professor Maria Mitchell of Vassar”: Boston Daily Advertiser, Oct. 15, 1878, p. 2.
212 “by the clanging chains”: Thomas (1908:49).
213 Dr. Emma Culbertson: Although not a founding member of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, Culbertson was active in the organization from its early days. See Vassar Miscellany, Jan. 1885, p. 1207; Talbot and Rosenberry (1931:125–26).
213 “The graduates, as a body”: Howes et al. (1885:77). See more at Zschoche (1989:563).
213 “If I am to get really well”: Mitchell diary entry for May 30, 1881 [MMM Reel 3, Item 24, p. 78; transcribed in Booker (2007:430)].
214 “brilliant discovery”: French astronomer Félix Tisserand saluted Watson’s “brillante découverte de Vulcain” in a letter dated Sept. 2, 1878. German astronomer C. A. F. Peters (not to be confused with the American C. H. F. Peters) sent his congratulations on Sept. 24, 1878. [Both letters are in JCWP Box 1.]
214 “Permit me to congratulate you”: Bell to Watson, Dec. 28, 1878 [AGBFP Box 304].
214 “[H]e will be a most valuable addition”: Wisconsin Journal of Education, Nov. 1878, p. 525. For more on Watson’s move to Wisconsin and the University of Michigan’s attempts to forestall it, see Detroit Free Press, Oct. 5, 1878, p. 4; Detroit Free Press, Oct. 12, 1878, p. 4 and p. 8; Detroit Free Press, Oct. 13, 1878, p. 8; Chicago Daily Tribune, Aug. 6, 1879, p. 7; N. B. Van Slyke to Watson, Oct. 9, 1878 [JCWP Box 1].
214 The second charmed observer was Lewis Swift: Swift is best remembered today as co-discoverer of Comet Swift-Tuttle, which produces a trail of dust that rains down on earth each August as the Perseid meteor shower. See Wlasuk (1996).
214 he, like Watson, had spied an unknown object: Chicago Daily Tribune, Aug. 2, 1878, p. 3; Buffalo Daily Courier, Aug. 6, 1878, p. 1; New-York Times, Aug. 16, 1878, p. 5; New-York Tribune, Aug. 21, 1878, p. 1; New-York Tribune, Aug. 22, 1878, p. 5; Scientific American, Aug. 31, 1878, p. 128; Chicago Daily Tribune, Sept. 10, 1878, p. 3; Nature 18 (464), Sept. 19, 1878, p. 539.
215 “I have no doubt about”: Watson to John Rodgers, Sept. 2, 1878 [USNO-NA Entry 7, Box 45; copy in JCWP Box 2]. Watson made a similar statement to USNO astronomer Asaph Hall in a letter dated Aug. 21, 1878 [AHP Box 3].
215 “[T]he records of my circles”: Watson (1878b:312).
215 “This Vulcan business”: Inter Ocean (Chicago), Sept. 16, 1878, p. 4.
215 “If the above conclusions are true”: Nature 19 (475), Dec. 5, 1878, p. 96. See also Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Dec. 19, 1878, p. 2.
215 an even more derogatory title: Asim (2007:103–4).
215 “But,” Newcombe wrote, “the Vulcans have increased by one”: Newcomb to Peters, May 14, 1879 [SNP Box 4].
216 “One little Vulcan”: Newcomb wrote, in German: “Ein kleine Vulcan isst heissen Brei/ Er sprang in die Höhe, und Siehe!/ es sind zwei./ zwei kleine Vulcan etc./ und siehe es sind drei.”
216 “I should have liked to hear”: Peters to Newcomb, May 18, 1879 [SNP Box 35].
216 “Said one to the other”: Peters wrote, in a mixture of German and English: “Sprach einer zum andern: ‘let’s drink little beer!’/ Sie tranken recht lustig,—und sieh’ es sind vier!/ Sie möchten wohl gerne einen fünften zur Noth,/ Doch’s Fass ist ja leer,—sie tranken sich todt./ To which may be added perhaps the lesson:/ So geht’s, wenn der Frosch sich blähet zu sehr;/ Er platzt doch am Ende,—ihm glaubt keiner mehr.”
217 “in the dim light of the total eclipse”: Peters (1879).
217 “Professor Peters’ whole attack”: Watson (1879). See also Watson to C. H. F. Peters, May 15, 1879 [Vertical File Collection, DB–James C. Watson, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan].
217 Since the age of Aristotle, a myth has persisted: D. W. Hughes (1983).
218 specially designed to look for Vulcan: Watson (1880); Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), Sept. 28, 1880, p. 8; Scientific American, Dec. 25, 1880, p. 405; Comstock (1895:52). Watson explained the basis for his plan immediately after returning from Wyoming; see Detroit Free Press, Aug. 8, 1878, p. 4.
218 “I am happy to say”: Watson to Julius E. Hilgard, Nov. 15, 1880 [GADRUWM Series 7/4/3].
218 “Look out for a ‘freeze up’ ”: Galesville Independent, Nov. 11, 1880, p. 3.
218 “out among the workmen”: Hazen Mooers to Mrs. James C. Watson, Dec. 27, 1880 [JCWP Box 1].
218 Death arrived for the astronomer: Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, Nov. 24, 1880, p. 1; Evening News (Detroit), Nov. 24, 1880, p. 1; Detroit Post and Tribune, Nov. 24, 1880, p. 1; Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), Nov. 30, 1880, p. 5.
218 “recklessness of his own health”: Chronicle (Univ. of Michigan), Nov. 27, 1880, p. 65.
218 “exhausted condition by overwork and exposure”: Inter Ocean (Chicago), Nov. 24, 1880, p. 2.
218 “The Most Brilliant”: Chicago Daily Tribune, Nov. 24, 1880, p. 2.
219 august memorial service: Inter Ocean (Chicago), Nov. 27, 1880, p. 6; Detroit Post and Tribune, Nov. 27, 1880, p. 1; Chronicle (Univ. of Michigan), Nov. 27, 1880, pp. 65–66; Ann Arbor Register, Dec. 1, 1880, pp. 1–2.
219 “the brightest scientific ornament”: Frieze et al. (1882:25).
219 “with what delight”: Frieze et al. (1882:17).
219 “One thing I would beg”: Peters to Holden, Feb. 17, 1881 [LOR Box 36, Folder 1].
219 “No stars were seen”: Holden (1882:36).
219 “abandoned as entirely useless”: Sunday Republican-Sentinel (Milwaukee), Oct. 29, 1882, p. 7.
220 In 1919, Einstein’s abstruse theory was famously put to the test: Dyson, Eddington, and Davidson (1920). See more at Crelinsten (2006), Westfall and Sheehan (2015:138–41).
220 “[W]hile it demonstrates his large love of science”: Inter Ocean (Chicago), Nov. 29, 1880, p. 4.
220 a perpetual fund for two purposes: National Academy of Sciences (1909:51–52). For more on how the money was spent in tracking Watson’s asteroids, see Boston Daily Globe, Nov. 15, 1941, p. 2; Coddington (1900); Hansen (1943). The academy also granted $500 from the Watson Fund to aid in a search for Vulcan during the May 6, 1883, total solar eclipse; True (1913:64).
220 his ego would endure: Simon Newcomb, in a letter to the newly widowed Annette Watson, praised her late husband’s generosity for fund
ing a prize that would “carry his name to remote generations as a benefactor of young astronomers seeking recognition of their labors” [Newcomb to Mrs. Watson, Dec. 8, 1880, SNP Box 5]. Watson’s brother, however, wrote harshly in a letter to the editor: “Professor Watson was a man of extraordinary intellect; but of his inordinate ambition to distinguish himself before all moral obligation to his family, there can be no better proof than his will. He gave all he possessed to a scientific society, with a view evidently, of still further perpetuating his name.” [Daily Pioneer Press (St. Paul), Dec. 17, 1880, p. 5]
CHAPTER 19: SHADOW AND LIGHT
221 one of the most celebrated feats in the history of technology: For details of Edison’s race to build his incandescent lamp, and of earlier attempts at electric illumination, see Edison (1904); Friedel, Israel, and Finn (2010); Freeberg (2013); Jonnes (2003).
221 Avenue de l’Opéra: St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Aug. 18, 1878, p. 11. Edison had apparently seen this article [TAED D7819C].
222 “My dear Edison”: Barker to Edison, Sept. 2, 1878 [TAED D7802ZXS].
222 spoken at length about electric power and lighting: TAEB vol. 4, p. 866; Barker’s testimony in Edison v. Siemens v. Field, pp. 178–85 [TAED QD001178].
222 “fairly gloated over it”: Sun (New York), Sept. 10, 1878, p. 1.
222 “I have it now!”: Sun (New York), Sept. 16, 1878, p. 3 [TAED MBSB20887; also in TAEB vol. 4, pp. 503–6].
223 “When do you expect”: New York Herald, Oct. 12, 1878, p. 4 [TAED MBSB20949].
223 Edison received inquiries: William F. Barrett to Edison, Aug. 26, 1878 [TAED D7802ZWL; also in TAEB vol. 4, pp. 442–43]; William Curtis Taylor to Edison, Sept. 2, 5, and 7, 1878 [TAED D7835M, D7835N, and D7835O]; Jonathan Chace to Edison, Sept. 7, 1878 [TAED D7835P]; Joseph Tingley to Edison, Dec. 13, 1878, and Feb. 5, 1879 [TAED D7835T and D7935B].
223 “it is of no interest”: Inter Ocean (Chicago), July 16, 1878, p. 8.
223 he permitted two companies: These were the British instrument maker John Browning and the American firm of Partrick & Carter.
223 without paying him royalties: Edison to Browning, Sept. 19, 1878 [TAED LB003376].
223 “The movements of the needle”: English Mechanic and World of Science, Sept. 13, 1878, p. 13.
223 “the instrument has been generally”: Mendenhall (1882:43).
223 “Edison’s tasimeter was like”: Silver World (Lake City, Colorado), Aug. 10, 1878, p. 2.
223 “My apparatus was entirely too sensitive”: Dyer and Martin (1910:230).
224 People began to wonder if the Wizard was a sham: Daily Graphic (New York), Feb. 6, 1879, p. 3 (vol. 18, p. 655) [TAED MBSB21122X]; Scientific American, Feb. 15, 1879, p. 102.
224 he would underwrite the launch: Anonymous (1947), Baldwin (1995:120–22).
224 “[K]eep yourself aloof”: Fox to Edison, Oct. 20, 1878 [TAED D7805ZDW; also in TAEB vol. 4, pp. 630–32].
225 $125 loan: Fox to Edison, May 29, 1879 [TAED D7903ZEK; also in TAEB vol. 5, pp. 247–48].
225 gift of eight shares: Calvin Goddard to Edison, Jan. 22, 1879 [TAED D7920M; also in TAEB vol. 5, pp. 44–46]; Fox to Edison, Jan. 26, 1879 [TAED D7920R].
225 “The Great Inventor’s Triumph”: New York Herald, Dec. 21, 1879, p. 5 [TAED MBSB21379X].
225 praised the inventor as “no unwary experimenter”: Nature 18 (459), Aug. 15, 1878, p. 402.
225 “absolute incompatibility with”: Nature 21 (537), Feb. 12, 1880, p. 342.
225 expressed himself “under so many obligations”: Morton to Edison, Feb. 5, 1878 [TAED D7802ZAH].
225 “a conspicuous failure”: Morton letter to the editor of The Plumber and Sanitary Engineer, published Jan. 1, 1880, pp. 45–46 [TAED SM051037a]. Also in Sun (New York), Dec. 27, 1879, p. 3; New York Herald, Dec. 28, 1879, p. 7 [TAED MBSB21396X].
225 “a lamp which surpasses”: Evening Post (New York), Nov. 22, 1880, p. 3 [TAED MBSB21545X].
226 “When I am through with my light”: Sun (New York), Jan. 30, 1880, p. 2.
226 electric lathes and clocks, electric hairbrushes: Times (London), Aug. 11, 1881, p. 10; Cincinnati Daily Gazette, Aug. 25, 1881, p. 3; Cleveland Herald, Nov. 23, 1881, p. 3.
226 in two opulent rooms: Daily News (London), Aug. 11, 1881, pp. 5–6; New York Herald, Aug. 20, 1881, p. 7.
226 his many newfangled contraptions: Among the devices on display was one meant to demonstrate the etheric force, the existence of which Edison still occasionally advocated. See Dyer and Martin (1910:579); Simonds (1934:206); Daily Graphic (New York), Dec. 28, 1878, p. 6 (vol. 18, p. 394) [TAED MBSB21091]; New York Herald, Dec. 28, 1879, p. 7 [TAED MBSB21396X].
227 “Surely the game of ‘throwing light’ ”: New-York Tribune, Sept. 19, 1881, p. 5.
227 “In the matter of the diminutive”: Cleveland Leader, Oct. 20, 1881, p. 6.
227 “filled the hall with anthems”: Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), Nov. 23, 1881, p. 5.
228 “Accept my congratulations”: New-York Tribune, Oct. 28, 1881, p. 5. A handwritten copy of Barker’s cable is in Edison’s letter book [TAED LM001069C].
228 “It is to Mr. T. A. Edison”: Morton (1889:189).
228 pressed to have his friend elected: Barker to Newcomb, Dec. 4, 1908 [SNP Box 15].
229 “This electrical age”: New York Times, Oct. 19, 1931, p. 20.
229 synchronized minute in the dark: New York Times, Oct. 21, 1931, p. 1.
229 Albert Einstein and Pope Pius XI: New York Times, Oct. 19, 1931, p. 26 and p. 1.
229 forty thousand mourners: New York Times, Oct. 21, 1931, p. 3. See also New York Times, Oct. 20, 1931, p. 1 and p. 3.
229 a trove of mementoes: Edison’s library has been preserved within the Thomas Edison National Historical Park, and the room has been kept decorated much as it was at the time of the inventor’s death. For a description of the library’s history and furnishings, see Millard, Hay, and Grassick (1995).
EPILOGUE: TENDRILS OF HISTORY
231 the historical marker tells a story: “THOMAS A. EDISON CAMPED NEAR THIS SPOT IN 1878, WHILE ON A FISHING TRIP. IT WAS HERE THAT HIS ATTENTION WAS DIRECTED TO THE FIBER FROM HIS BAMBOO FISHING POLE WHICH HE TESTED AS A SUITABLE FILAMENT FOR HIS INCANDESCENT ELECTRIC LAMP.”
231 “After we had been [at Battle Lake] about three days”: Galbraith (1922:25). This story was retold many times by Galbraith; see Omaha World-Herald, Oct. 29, 1929, p. 7; The Commonwealther, Christmas 1929, pp. 20–21; Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock), Nov. 1, 1931, Features Section, p. 1 and p. 12; Galbraith to George E. Howard, Nov. 10, 1929 [TAEC Series XVII Unprocessed]. Galbraith’s account is colorfully vivid, yet it contains several blatant inaccuracies that undermine its credibility. Galbraith claimed, for instance, that Edwin Marshall Fox had been on the fishing trip and promptly filed a dispatch about Edison’s idea for an incandescent lamp, only to have The New York Herald reject the story as “rot.” Fox was not, however, at Battle Lake with Edison, but rather was in Vermont with his dying brother; see Boston Post, Aug. 19, 1878, p. 2. Galbraith also recalled that the Meeker Massacre occurred during the fishing trip and when news of the incident reached Battle Lake, Major Thornburgh was summoned to the Ute Reservation, where he was soon killed. Galbraith, however, has the chronology all wrong. Those violent incidents did not take place until September 1879—more than a year after Edison departed Rawlins—and they transpired in a different order. Interestingly, though, Thornburgh was indeed on a hunting and fishing trip near Battle Lake when the troubles began; see Sprague (1957:180). For more on the questionability of Galbraith’s story, see Roberts (1981).
231 Later embellishments: Spring (1968), Steel (2001:207).
232 relaxed and ready to take on new projects: George Barker to Stockton Griffin, Sept. 5, 1878 [TAED D7819D; also in TAEB vol. 4, pp. 468–69]; New York Herald, Dec. 21, 1879, p. 5 [TAED MBSB21379X]; F. A. Jones (1908:97).
232 “We often hear it, for instance”: Langley (1889:2–3).
233 “[O]ur traditional reputat
ion”: Newcomb (1897:712).
233 “[T]o-day our country stands”: Newcomb (1897:714).
233 Modern historians generally agree: Reingold (1972:55), Rothenberg (1986:123), Moyer (1992:183–84).
234 “the leader of the world in science”: Newcomb (1876:117).
234 “Not only is our scientific literature”: Newcomb (1876:110).
234 his meeting Norman Lockyer: Speiden (1947:141).
234 “It cost me too much”: TAEB vol. 2, p. 778.
234 resurrected by Alexander Graham Bell: Bruce (1973:376–78).
234 “The precise form”: Newcomb (1876:118).
235 endowed a second professional prize: True (1913:365–66).
235 “We are deficient”: Newcomb (1876:118).
235 Harvard gave the work to an all-female team: Reed (1892); B. Z. Jones and L. G. Boyd (1971:211–45); Mack (1990); Sobel (2016); Boston Herald, Jan. 16, 1899, pp. 1–2.
235 “a corps of lady assistants”: Daniel Draper to Mary Anna Palmer Draper, May 12, 1885 [JWDFP Box 42].
236 “I knew about Maria Mitchell”: Lightman and Brawer (1990:287). See also Rubin (1997:153, 164–72).
236 “It is, in fact, thought”: Times (London), July 29, 1878, p. 11.
236 astronomers head to the ends of the earth: Pasachoff (2009).
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The illustrations in this work derive from nineteenth-century books, magazines, newspapers, and archival collections. Most of the captions are presented as originally written, although they have been re-typeset for legibility and occasionally edited for length or spelling. See “Notes on Sources” for abbreviations used here.
Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
FRONTISPIECE “The Great Solar Eclipse—Sketched at Snake River Pass, Colorado, by St. George Stanley,” from Harper’s Weekly, August 24, 1878. Author collection. Inset: Maria Mitchell, from The Century Magazine, October 1889; Thomas A. Edison, from The Popular Science Monthly, August 1878; James Craig Watson, from The Popular Science Monthly, September 1881. Courtesy of Denver Public Library.