THE DAILY INFLUENCES OF ASTRONOMY. 1 



By W. W. Campbell, 

 Lick Observatory, University of California. 



In the great struggle through which the principal nations have 

 passed, men and women at home labored intensively to maintain 

 their ideals; countless millions of men fought valiantly and many 

 millions died for the ideals of their nations. Quick results, short 

 cuts to the end in view, the achieving of victory regardless of costs, 

 were the order of the day. Suddenly the problems of war gave way 

 to the problems of peace. The intensive methods of war carried over 

 to an unfortunate degree into the days of peace. Human energy, 

 mobilized in behalf of the nation, applied unselfishly for the good 

 of every person in the nation, for the well-being of all the nations, 

 was diverted in regrettable measure to promoting selfish interests. 

 The moral exaltation of the war period was replaced in too many 

 cases by the selfishness of individuals and organizations ; by profit- 

 eering — a new word, coined to describe widespread conditions. The 

 struggle in Russia, as the extreme case, is direct action for the sud- 

 den attainment of certain results, without due consideration for the 

 rights of others. In all countries there are those who, seeing condi- 

 tions not to their liking, in commerce, in education, in religion, in 

 many phases of daily life, would cut and slash their way through the 

 good, in order to uproot what, in their sight, is bad. This spirit 

 exists in America, and throughout the world, in various degrees. 

 Disturbances in the body politic may ensue for years or a generation 

 by virtue of these attempted short cuts to results, but radical trans- 

 formations in the social structure of the great modern nations, to 

 endure, must find the people ready for them. The influences which 

 prepare the way for desirable and enduring reforms are not those 

 applied suddenly, but such as operate day and night, continuously, 

 through long periods of time. The revolutions in Russia, in Mexico, 

 in many parts of Latin America attract our attention, but the really 

 serious misfortunes of those lands lie much deeper, in their bad 



1 Address on the occasion of the dedication of the Warner and Swasey Observatory, 

 Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland, on October 12, 1920. Reprinted by permis- 

 sion from Science, December 10, 1920. 



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