The Sunday Oregonian., September 08, 1907, Magazine Section, Page 4, Image 44

THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, SEPTE3IBER 8, 1907.
3?c
This Is the Testimony of an Eminent British Expert Who
Should Know What He Is Talking About
Simon Newcomb, Nestor of the Profession in This
and Others Who Have Done Big Things
J "J
CBMBRslL ATSJ7W Y07?CsWD
FAMOUS ASTJ?OSJCr7;K2
BY DEXER .MARSHALL.
r HEN Sir Robert Ball, the English
man, was In this country last
Sprlngr, he said that undoubtedly
the United States Is the leader In astron
omy and that the eyes of astronomers th
world over are turned this way constantly
In order to see what Is being done here.
Sir Robert himself Is an astronomer of
no mean ability and great reputation
being director of Cambridge Observatory
so that praise from him is like praise
from Sir Huhert.
Sir Robert didn't say that there are
more astronomers of recognized achieve
ment and reputation here than In any
other country probably because he didn't
think of It but there are. He enumerated
peveral of them, giving credit to each for
his own special work, but he omitted the
name of Simon Newcombe, the Nestor of
American Ktar-gazers, whose work has
been of the greatest possible practical
value to the world for many decades.
s(or of American Astronomers.
Newcomb is 72 and has been on the re-
tired list for 10 years. Tie Is of the old
fashioned American sort. He was horn. in
poverty, .he had hard lines when a boy,
and. he owes his success in his chosen
science to his own efforts. Although a
native of Nova Scotia, he is of Yankee
stock, for his ancestors were early Eng
lish Immigrants to New England, who
went further north in 17G1. His grand
father was a stone mason, his father a
school teacher whose earnings were of the
scantiest, as were the earnings of all the
men of "Wallace, the hamlet where he
kept his school.
No one had any ' money there. The
women and girls, as well as the men and
boys, had to work "ferociously," as Ham
lin Garland would say, as soon as they
were old enough to make a living. The
men and boys sawed lumber and cut fire
wood mostly for the region was hardly
"cleared" as yet while the women and
girls spun and wove and made the cloth
ing of the men as well as their own.
The community Is better off now than It
was then, but all the people there still
earn their living with their hands and see
little money. When Professor Newcomb
and Mrs. Newcomb paid the place a visit
a few years ago they overheard one na
tive remark to another:
"They do say that Newcomb spends his
time In the States a-studylng the stars
and gets paid for It!"
Xewcomb's grandfather must have been
a man of some education, since his few
books included an ancient copy of
Euclid's treatise on geometry, from which
the grandson gathered some of his first
mathematical knowledge. He came to the
I'nited States to seek his fortune when
18. drifting to Maryland, where he be
gan as a school teacher not far from
Washington. One day he visited the1
library of the Smithsonian Institution,
where he found some books on mathe
matics that Interested him mightily. He
managed to borrow them through Pro
fessor Joseph Henry, who, seeing that
the young "Blue-Nose" school teacher
had a wonderful aptitude for mathemat
ics. Introduced him to Professor Wlnlock,
superintendent of the Nautical Almanac.
He engaged' Newcomb as an assistant,
and that Is how his really noteworthy
astronomical career was begun.
The Nautical Almanac.
The Nautical Almanac has been termed
the guide book to the Seven Seas, and
properly, since the information and tables
it contains are of immense aid to naviga
tors in making their calculations.
Tn ISoT. when, at 2L young Newcomb
began his service upon the almanac, the
merchant marine of the V nlted States
was at its best, and the greatest pains
were taken to make the almanac the
best published. Although our deep sea
merchant marine is now of little conse
quence, our Nautical Almanac Is standard'
today, because of Newcomb's work.
After two -years he was promoted, and
in 1877 became Its director. He held the
place for 20 years. During his 40 years'
connection with it. which ceased In 1897,
he introduced many Improvements and
did so many other things of note In
astronomy that only a few of them may
be hinted at here.
In 1S70. when sent to Gibraltar to
observe a total eclipse of the sun, he
found that errors had been made in cer
tain calculations, so that the motions of
the moon were not accurately known.
Therefore he went to Paris, arriving there
at the close of the siege and the beginning
of the Commune. He got permission to
study the astronomical records, worked at
them with Mrs. Newcomb for six weeks,
undisturbed by the almost constant firing
going on In the streets, found the errors
of computation and corrected them. From
Paris he went to other astronomical cen
ters, doing similar work in each. The
iptlr astronomical world threw laurels
v lis At A V i-JsuJl
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.
at his feet because of what
that year.
It was Newcomb who Installed the great
L,ick telescopes: it was Newcomb wno
advised the Czar so wisely regarding the
Russian government's observatory- that
the Russian monarch hastened to re
ward him with signal tokens of his im
perial favor. The Emperor of Japan has
shown similar evidences of appreciation,
and these are samples onlv of the honora
he has received from abroad. In 1M1 ho
was made professor of mathematics at
the United States Naval Academy, and for
years he had charge of the naval observa
tory, first at Annapolis and then at Wash
ington. In that time he made personal
observations of such accuracy and value
that, whereas when he began it was pos
sible to compute exactly as to eclipses
and other celestial phenomena for a
few years only, it is now possible to
figure ahead for a century or more as ac
curately as for a year. He Is the only
Amerlacn since Franklin to be made an
associate of tile institute of France.
He always has been the hardest worker
imaginable. Years ago he used to get rest
when hard driven in cat naps, at the be
ginning of which he would ask his wife
to waken him in 15 minute, and at the
end of which he would be entirely re
freshed. Yet he has a keen sense of hu
mor. Once a nervous friend, after telling
him a long story of personal troubles,
wound up with the question:
"If you were In my shoes what would
you do?"
"I'd black them,"' said Newcomb, look
ing sharply at the other man's feet.
Newcomb took a course in the Massa
chusetts Polytechnic Institute soon after
Joining the almanac staff, which was first
located at Boston, and for some years he
was professor of mathematics at Johns
Hopkins. He never has seemed to have
the least desire to make money. He Is a
prime institution at Washington, D. C,
where he lives.
&RbEES&Of2 oWE1LJS PCTtf&ZI&QLte: I U I
Farmer Hoys Great Star Gazers.
Not a few. of the most eminent Ameri
can astronomers of today were farmers'
sons. Piofessor Thomas J. J. See. who
was advanced to Professor Newcomb's
old place as professor of mathematics in
the United States Naval Academy in 1S!9,
Is one of them. See Is only 41: he was
born on a 1000-acre farm in Montgomery
County, Missouri, and it was expected
that he would be a farmer like his father.
But as a boy he was so interested In
the stars that when 9 years old he tried
to count them and all his school composi
tions dealt with them. Long before he
entered the state university, from which
he was graduated in 1889, it was apparent
that he had his own notions as to his
life's occupation. Of course he met with
opposition. In which nearly all the mem
bers of his family joined.
They were backed by the president of
the college even, an elder sister bWng
the only one to stand by him in his aspira
tions to make a career as an astronomer.
With her backing he persevered and to
day he Is a great authority on double
stars, the composition of the sun and a
lot of other astronomical things.
He has been stationed as an observ
er at Flagstaff. Ariz., with Lowell,
at the City of Mexico and in Argen
tina. He has studied in Berlin, under
Helmholz and other German scientists;
he helped organize the Yerkes Observ
atory at Chicago, and his investiga
tions have brought, such recognition
that his papers often appear first in
Tm&TYSfX NCH JZEE&ACTMG '-TELESCOPE
German scientific periodicals. He says
the sun will shrink one-tenth of its
diameter in about 1,000,000 years,
which could just be perceived without
a telescope.
He is tall, erect and swarthy; not at
all a typical scientist in appearance.
He was the sixth of nine children, and
his family has long been proud of him.
He was stationed at the Mare Island,
California, Naval Observatory in 1903.
Charles A. Young, who was the great
est Amercian authority on the sun for
many years, while serving as profes
sor of astronomy at Princeton, retired
two years afro at 71.
William W. Campbell is another
farmer's son who has become a famous
star-gazer. He was born in Ohio, was
educated at the University of Michi
gan, Ann Arbor, and succeeded Profes
sor John M. Schaeberle as director of
the observatory there In 18S8, succeed
ing him at the Lick Observatory six
years ago. Campbell has received
many evidences of high standing
abroad. He Is 45. He has done great
work In comet observations and in
spectroscopy, and has had' charge of
two eclipse expeditions.
Greatest Living Astronomer.
i-.r Robert Ball calls Professor Ed
ward E. Barnard, the "greatest living
astronomer." and everybody agrees
that his rank is very high. He is now
at the head of the great Yerkes Ob
servatory and professor of astronomy
at Chicago University. His riste to his
present eminence has been one of the
personal romances of science.
Barnard will be 50 in December. He
was brought upk in Nashville and was
only 8 years old at the close of the
Civil War. He had to earn his own
living when only a youth, and his first
job of any consequence was as boy
in a photograph gallery. Among other
things his duties included looking
after the prints on the roof. Some
how he got interested In the stars, and
after that he used to spend a good deal
of time at night on the roof of the
photographic "studio" making draw
ings. Meanwhile he had determined to
have a telescope of his own, and by al
most incredible economy he saved up
$500 and got one. Being a pretty good
business man for a star-gazer, as no
one will dispute lis made the instru
ment pay for Itself twice over by dis- j
covering and describing 12 comeus, for
which he received cash rewards of
91000. When he went to the president
of the American Society for tbe Ad 1
vancement of Science the latter shrug
ged his shoulders.
"Very well," said the great man.
after hearing Barnard's story, "now
you'd better stop star-gazing and
study mathematics."
Barnard did that at Vanderbilt Uni
versity, where he worked his way
'through and was graduated at 30.
He was at school less than two years
as a hoy.
He is now credited with having dis
covered 16 comets, more, even, than
Lewis Swift, the "cider mill astrono
mer," of Rochester; and. in 1892. he
discovered the fifth satellite of Jupiter.
His photographs of various nebulae
and of the Milky Way are considered
remarkable and. of 0iurse. his fame
reaches every civilized land. Barnard
was astronomer at the Lick Observa
tory from 1887 to 1835. inclusive; while
there he got into a tremendous rumpus
with E. S. Holden. director from 18S8
to 1898. It was so serious that when
Barnard left one of the San Francisco
papers said: "The mountain feuds of
Kentucky are as nothing' In compari
son with the strife on the top of
.Mount Hamilton for years." explaining
that they began over some photo
graphs taken by Professor Burnham in
the Andes. Barnard sided with Burn
ham, and left the Lick Observatory
for Yerkes. For months Barnard and
Holden would not speak and communi
cated with each other in writing
only.
Holden is an' astronomer of fine rec
ord, great reputation and distinct
achievements. He was made librarian
of the United States Military Academy
in 1901.
Burnham Made His Own Way.
- Barnard's friend at Lick. Sherburne W.
Burnham, over whom the row with Hol
den began, had as stiff a struggle to get
into the top row of American star-gazers
as any of them. He now lacks only a
year of 70. He was born at Thetford. in
Vermont, and his family was so poor that
he was able to get a commoi school edu
cation only.
He learned shorthand when stenogra
phers were few and well iaid. In time
he got to oe clerk of the United States
District Court at Chicago. Meanwhile he
became an amateur astronomer, like Bar
nard and Iewts Swift, but instead of set
ting up his glass on the top of a cider
mill, as the latter did, erected it In the
back yard of his Chicago home. There
he did such really wonderful things that
his fame became worldwide long before
his friends who saw him in the courtroom
daily ever heard that he knew any more
about the stars than anybody else, al
though they knew Chicago had an astron
omer named Burnham among its noted
citizens.
"What?"' exclaimed the United States
District Attorney, who had been a friend
of Burnham for a dozen years, when he
heard the news. "Our Burnham the big
astronomer? I never heard him say a
word about it."
He did double work, for many years, re
porting law cases by day. star gazing by
night, "making good use of the minutes,"
he says. He is now professor of practi
cal astronomy at Chicago University and
does a lot of work at the Yerkes Obser
vatory. He was at I.ick for some time,
he selected Mount Hamilton as the site
of that observatory, and he has discov
ered more double stars than all the other
living astronomers in the world. He Is a
member or associate of every astronomi
cal society in existence and has won
medals and other prizes aplenty. In
many quarters his work is esteemed even
more highly than Barnard's.
The Brothers Searle.
One ot the most interesting of all the
American astronomers is the Rev. George
M. Searle. now G8, the brother of Arthur
Searle. Phillips professor of astronomy at
Harvard. The Searle brothers rre Lon
don born, but were brought to this coun
try when Arthur was 3 years old and
George was less than 2. Arthur was
graduated from Harvard in 1S56, his
brother a year later. Both are men of
standing In their profession? but despite
the fact that George M. has devoted most
of his attention in another direction for
nearly 30 years he is the leader of the
two.
George M. Searle. born a Protestant, be
came a Catholic in 1S62: six years later
he Joined the Paurtst Fathers and was
made first teacher of science in the Paul
Ist Seminary and later professor of
mathematics at the Catholic University,
I
in Washington. His progress as a youn:
man was rapid; he was assistant at Dud
ley Observatory. Albany. N. Y., before he
had been out of college a year, and there
he discovered the asteroid Pandora in 1858.
He was with the United States Coast
Survey for some tim?, find when at 30
he joined the Paullsts, had risen to be as
sistant at the Harvard Observatory, hav
ing already served two years as assistant
professor of mathematics at the Annapo
lis Naval Academy.
Three years ago Father Searle was
made superior general at the New Y'ork
headquarters- of the Paullsts. where he Is
noted for his good works among the peo
ple, but he still takes great interest In
the physical heavens. He makes fre
quent visits to the most noted observa
tories in the country, and everywhere Is
esteemed for his accurate and profound
knowledge of the stars.
In Charge at Mount Wilson.
No American star-gazer of today is
receiving more attention. either at
home or abroad, than Professor George
E. Hale, director of the Solar Obser
vatory of the Carnegie Institution,
located at Mount Wilson, in
Southern California, near Pasadena.
Hale Is now a year less than
40. He was not a poor boy. his father
being a well-to-do manufacturer of
Chicago, who gave his son a chance to
exercise his own bent.
This boy began with a set of tools
after the fashion of many another boy;
next he acquired a workshop, and then,
hearing of the spectroscope, he pro
cured a prism and made a scope for
himself. His glee when he was able
to reproduce the colors of the rainbow
with his home-made instrument was
as great, probably, as when, after long
and patient work, he succeeded in per
fecting the spectro-heliograph, without
which much of the remarkable solar
observation work he is now doing
would be impossible.
Hale was graduated from the Massa
chusetts Institute of Technology, and
took post-graduate work at Harvard
and at Berlin. He devoted a year in
Europe, before the great Yerkes Ob
sevatory was built, to visiting the fa
mous Old World observatories and pre
paring plans for the new observatory,
of which he was made the first direc
tor, and also professor of astro-physics
at Chicago University.
Haie's spectro-heliograph really is a
wonderful device. By its use it is
possible to photograph the prominences
of the sun at any time, whereas, form
erly they could be photographed dur
ing eclipse only. An Ingenious at
tachment makes it possible to do the
photographing automatically and thus
procure a record of the great sun storms
which are supposed to affect the weather
of this earth in no small degree. As
Mount Wilson Is 5886 feet high and
has a cloudless sky most of the year,
it will be seen that Professor Hale has
an opportunity to do far greater work
in the future than he has yet accom
plished. Professor Lewis Boss, of the Dudley
Observatory at Albany, who will head
the Carnegie Institute star-gazing ex
pedition in Argentina to be sent out
next year, will have an eqaul oppor
tunity in the work there to be under
taken. Boss was graduated from Dart
mouth 30 years ago; 20 odd years ago
ho was a newspaper man, being editor
and manager of the Albany Express.
Two Great Harvard Men.
Harvard University boasts the serv
ices of two of America's ablest and
most famous star-gazers, Asaph Hall,
professor of astronomy there for the
last dozen years, and Professor Ed
ward C. Pickering, director of the ob
servatory since 1877.
Hall Is a farmer's boy, who worked
in the fields when a boy, and went to
the district school; later learned the
carpenter's trade and worked at it;
and still later paid his way through
special courses at Yale and Ihe Uni
versity of Michigan. He Is only two
years less than 80 now, he has headed
many Government expeditions, and he
discovered "Delmos" and "Phebos," the
two moons of Mars.
When Lincoln was President. Hall
was connected with the Naval obser
vatory. One night the President and
Secretary Stanton visited the obser
vatory. Hall showed them the moon.
A few days afterward Lincoln called
again. He was puzzled by the fact
that after seeing the moon through a
telescope it seemed upside down when
viewed with the naked eye. He then
first learned that the astronomical tel
escope shows an Inverted image. Profes
sor Hall Is a member of no end of learned
societies and has drawn no end of prizes
for his work.
Professor Pickering is a Bostonian, born
and bred. At 61 years old he is fa
mous the world over. He . conies of a
family of astronomers, and his education
at the Lawrence Scientific School, Har
vard, was directed with special reference
to a career which he has wrought out
so well. His discoveries Include Saturn's
ninth moon In 1S98, and the enth. In 1904.
He has been director of the observatory
30 years, and In that time the institu
tion has become one of the foremost in
the world with reference to star pho
tography. His direction has been note
worthy also because, since he took charge
the endowment and. consequently the in
come, of the observatory have quad
rupled, thus making it possible to extend
its operations enormously.
It was due to his efforts that an aux
iliary observatory was established at Are
qulpa, Peru. Thus the range of Har
vard's astronomical observations extends
from pole to pole. Few astronomical en
terprises have had such far-reaching in
fluences as this one. It was his idea, put
forth some years ago, to form a trust in
astronomical research in order to aid ob
servations in all parts of the world. Th
"Trust" never has been formed, but in
addition to the Peruvian observatory.
Professor"- Pickering brought about the
establishment of the famous one at flag
staff, Ariz., where most of Percival
Lowell's famous observations of Mars
have been made.
Known for Novel Work.
The observatory at Flagstaff has re
ceived a great amount of attention from
the scientific world in the baker's dozen
of years since Pickering planned it.
Lowell, who had the money to establish
It. together with the brains and training
to direct it. has become through it one
of the best known men in the whole
world.
Lowell Is a Bostonian and a Harvard
(Concluded on F&ge IX 4