70 ^ CENTURY OF PROGRESS IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 



considered the refractor type superior. When we realize the marvelous results 

 obtained by reflector telescopes at the Lick, Mount Wilson, and Palomar ob- 

 servatories we have to admit that James Lick, the half-educated Pennsylvania- 

 Dutch piano-maker, had the right instinctive vision and that Davidson and the 

 other American astronomers were wrong in their conviction that a refractor of 

 limited size would be superior to the immense reflector Lick had proposed. 



After the latter had agreed to a refractor telescope he wanted one six feet in 

 diameter, and Davidson had to convince him that a 40-inch objective would be 

 the maximum possible size of a refractor. The question of the amount of money 

 necessary caused more difficulties, because Lick could not see that an observatory 

 needed other equipment besides a giant telescope. He believed that Davidson's 

 figure of $1,500,000 was too high but finally agreed to spend $1,200,000 on the 

 project. 



In May, 1874, Davidson went East to confer with astronomers about the 

 preparations for the observation of the transit of Venus in December. During 

 his absence other influences gained the confidence of Lick, who decided to build 

 the observatory on the shores of Lake Tahoe, where the name Observation Point 

 still marks the chosen site. (As it turned out, Lick's advisor owned a quarter- 

 section of land adjacent to the Point.) Davidson succeeded in convincing Lick 

 of the unsuitability of this site but his patience was by this time rather taxed 

 by the donor's constant vacillations. He made no further attempts to influence 

 Lick when the latter cut down the endowment to $700,000 and chose Mount Ham- 

 ilton, 4,209 feet elevation, as the site for the observatory. Mount Hamilton, named 

 in 1861 for an Oakland independent clergyman, the Eeverend Laurentine Hamil- 

 ton, was, according to some astronomers, much better suited than Davidson's 

 favorite spot near Donner Pass. 



The work on the observatory could not begin until the Lick estate was liqui- 

 dated in 1879. In 1888 the great project was completed and was given to the 

 University of California, as provided by Lick in his final deed of trust. The 

 36-inch equatorial refractor was at that time the largest in the world and the 

 general equipment of the observatory was second to none. Within a few years 

 the fifth satellite of Jupiter, the revolving sun of the Procyon, and a large num- 

 ber of comets and double stars were discovered. For the first time the angular 

 diameter of a fixed star was measured and epoch-making work was done by spec- 

 troscopic observation of stars, nebulae, and comets. This is not the place to 

 attempt to enumerate the achievements of the distinguished astronomers con- 

 nected with the Lick Observatory. Its various periodical publications give the 

 record. 



There is no question that the project of an observatory of the size and equip- 

 ment of the Lick Observatory was a healthy stimulus to astronomical interest in 

 the world. In California itself observatories began to mushroom even before the 

 Lick Observatory was completed. 



The first scientifically constructed observatory was erected by George David- 

 son in San Francisco for special study of the physical features of the planets, 

 and later for observing the variations of latitude and determining the constant 

 of aberration. Davidson had made astronomical observations on Washington 

 Plaza since 1870. In 1879 he removed his station to Lafayette Square, equipping 

 it with a 6.4 Clark refractor, a chronograph, and a telegraphic apparatus. Here 



