As a former president put it, "The problem of handing down RAS
knowledge from generation to generation is similar to the difficulties the
Nuclear Regulartory Commission is having in trying to determine the best
way to scare people away from a permanent nuclear depository for 100,000
years. The average lifetime of a RAS member is about two years, so there
have been approximately 80 generations of members since the "Golden Days"
of Sagan & Co. in the early 1950's."
Because of this, nearly all information retained about the RAS is in the form of logbooks. Nestled among the thousands of entries made by hundreds of members there exists the occasional morsel that brings an enlightenment for the reader. Tidbits of university history, of love won and lost, and of the great astronomical moments of the past fifty years appear in the records.
In 1897 the great refractor of Yerkes Observatory was officially dedicated. Located some 100 miles away from the University campus, it brought difficulties for both faculty teaching courses and students research. The founder and director of Yerkes, astronomer, genius, and consumate fund-raiser George Ellery Hale indicated this problem several times in recommending a local on-campus observatory. In the 1897/1898 President's Report2, Hale wrote:
The Students' Observatory is located east of the Ryerson Physical Laboratory on the University Quadrangles. It consists of two small frame buildings, which were secured from the United States government in 1894. The smaller of the two buildings is a transit house, containing a small universal instrument made by C. Bamberg. This instrument has an aperture of 1 3/4 inches, and carries two graduated circles which can be read correctly to 5" by means of reading microscopes. A sidereal chronometer (1250 Bröcking) is used with this instrument for the determination of time and latitude. Connection is made with the Standard Clock in the Physical Laboratory to make students familiar with the use of the chronograph.
In the larger of the two buildings, with a revolving dome,
is
house a modern six-inch refractor, made by Warner & Swasey. A three-inch
lens is at present attached to it, which will be replaced by a six-inch
glass as soon as possible. A sextant and other small accessories for
instruction are kept in Room 35 of the Ryerson Physical Laboratory.
It is obvious that the equipment of the Students' Observatory is
far from being complete. To make work in practical astronomy correspond
with the work in theoretical astronomy and that in astrophysics carried on
at the Yerkes Observatory, a number of instruments should be supplied as
soon as possible.
Since the two frame buildings with last but a few years, and since, furthermore, the campus is becoming occupied by large buildings which will obstruct the horizon, it is advisable to secure grounds with a free meridian line, where a permanent and fully equipped students' observatory may be erected.
