PROBLEMS OF ASTRONOMY 



PROFESSOR SIMON NEWCOMB 



[Professor Newcomb, an astronomer of the highest distinc- 

 tion, is Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy at Johns 

 Hopkins University, Baltimore. He has published more 

 than a hundred scientific papers. His numerous works 

 include "The Elements of Astronomy," issued by the Ameri- 

 can Book Company, New York, 1900; and "The Stars," 

 published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1901. The 

 address which follows was given at the dedication of the 

 Flower Observatory, University of Pennsylvania, May 12, 

 1897, and appeared in Science, May 21, 1897. In his work 

 ->n "The Stars" Professor Newcomb has developed and 

 .llustrated the views outlined in this address. ED.] 



THE so-called problems of astronomy are not 

 separate and independent, but are rather the 

 parts of one great problem, that of increasing 

 our knowledge of the universe in its widest 

 extent. Nor is it easy to contemplate the edifice 

 of astronomical science as it now stands, without 

 thinking of the past as well as of the present and 

 future. The fact is that our knowledge of the 

 universe has been in the nature of a slow and 

 gradual evolution, commencing at a very early 

 period in human history, and destined to go for- 

 ward without stop, as we hope, so long as civili- 

 zation shall endure. The astronomer of every 

 age has built on the foundations laid by his 

 predecessors, and his work has always formed, 

 33 



