522 SAMUEL PIERPONT LANGLEY. 



other ill America, and deserves to rank among the popnlar scientific 

 expositions of Darwin, WaUace, Huxley, and TyndalL 



Even prior to this Mr. Laiigley had been invited to lecture at the 

 Royal Institutioji of Great Britain; his fame was growing and 

 recognition was coming to him from many sources. 



In the autumn of 1886 Professor Baird, after a personal conference 

 with Mr. Laiigley, wrote him inquiring w^hether he would enter the 

 service of the Smithsonian Institution as an assistant secretary in 

 charge of foreign and domestic exchanges, including the international 

 service, the library, and the publications, with the understanding that 

 not more than half of his time should be given to the Institution and 

 the remainder could, as Professor Baird said, be employed in " keep- 

 ing up those original researches at Allegheny University wdiich have 

 already secured for you so much distinction in the scientific world. 

 The vSmithsonian Institution does not desire in any way to interrupt 

 the progress of your investigations; on the contrary, it will be most 

 hajDpy to facilitate them as far as lies in its power, with the hope, at 

 some future day, of being able to give, in Washington, facilities 

 equal, or superior, to those that you can have elsewhere." The reply 

 of Mr. Langley, a portion of which I quote, throws an interesting 

 side light upon the character of the man utterly unsuspected b}^ the 

 world at large and known to only a few of his intimates — that is, a 

 strong craving for real society, by which he meant intercourse with 

 people of diverse minds and knowledge, all of wdiom might give him 

 that intellectual companionship for which he hungered. Mr. Lang- 

 ley, on November 27, 1886, wrote from Allegheny to Professor Baird : 



I am obliged by your official letter of the 22(1 instant, inviting me to accept 

 the assistant secretaryship of the Smithsonian Institution, and by its kind 

 allusion to those relations of mine to physical science, which have influenced 

 you in making the proposal. 



The opportunity for usefulness in that direction is a strong motive to ine 

 for acceptance, as I mentioned in the conference to which you refer ; but I 

 find from your letter that I did not then make my actual position plain, as I 

 intended to do. To repeat what I then meant to say, I have no wish or ambi- 

 tion to tempt me from giving most of my time to physical investigation — at 

 least now, while I enjoy exceptional facilities for this, together with a freedom 

 which I could not expect in any subordinate position. 



My professional life here is, through the kindness of those to whom I owe 

 more than official duty, a very pleasant one, in most respects, nor have I any 

 occasion to leave the work of my predilection to increase my income. 



At the same time both my professional and domestic life here are exception- 

 ally isolated, and I have felt the need of some change which would bring with 

 it, along with society, new occupation, if that could be of a kind not wholly 

 dissociated from my accustomed pursuits. 



His loneliness in the Allegheny observatory can be well imagined. 

 Pittsburg of that day w^as largely engaged in adding to the wealth 

 of the State of Pennsylvania, and, indeed, of the entire country, and 



