SATELLITE-TRACKING PROGRAM — HAYES 281 



tory, required the choice of a successor. Two main divisions of re- 

 search constituted the activities of the Observatory at that time : one 

 on radiation and organisms, devoted to studies of the effect of non- 

 ionizing and ionizing radiant energy on plants and animals; the other 

 on astrophysical investigations proper, primarily of solar radiation, 

 for which two field stations ( at Montezuma, Chile, and Table Moun- 

 tain, Calif.) were maintained to accumulate data. 



Both divisions owed their origin to the prophetic imagination of 

 Samuel P. Langley, third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 

 and founder of its Astrophysical Observatory. As early as 1888 he 

 had expressed in the Annual Report his cherished hope "of erecting 

 and equipping an observatory for astrophysical research," where 

 he might pursue his work on solar radiation in accordance with his 

 concept of what he called "the new astronomy," concerned not with the 

 formerly prime objective of finding positions of the heavenly bodies, 

 but of learning "what they are in themselves and in relation to our- 

 selves." In 1891 he received from the National Govermnent his first 

 appropriation of funds for this research. 



Early in his career Langley had been associated with the Harvard 

 Astronomy Department and had come to the Smithsonian from the 

 observatory at Allegheny University. He was therefore strongly con- 

 vinced that there should be close connections between a research estab- 

 lislnnent of the sort he envisaged and the scientists in universities both 

 here and abroad. In addition, as President Gilman of Johns Hop- 

 kins observed at the Langley Memorial exercises held in Washington 

 on December 3, 1906, he had proved during his Secretaryship that one 

 "of the most remarkable characteristics of the Smithsonian has been 

 its power of adaptation to changing circumstances . . . shown [among 

 other ways] by expansion of other work. It has always been ready 

 to enlarge its domain and sustain the burden of fresh responsibilities." 



With such traditions in mind. Dr. Leonard Carmichael, Secretary 

 of the Smithsonian since 1953 and formerly president of Tufts Col- 

 lege, sought as a new Director a scientist capable of broadening sig- 

 nificantly the research program of the Observatory to include the 

 major fields of current astrophysics. He chose Dr. Whipple both 

 for his eminence as an astronomer and for his experience as leader 

 of the radar "window project" during the war and as a participant 

 in the Harvard Meteor Project. 



Both Drs. Whipple and Carmichael intended the former's appoint- 

 ment to open the way to close and beneficial cooperation between the 

 Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory in 

 Cambridge, Mass. Both institutions were to be distinct in all admin- 

 istrative and financial matters, but it was recognized that the Astro- 



