M 



NATURE 



[November 2, 191 1 



thf; better results for an expenditure of approximately the 

 amount now available for the Solar Phj'sics Observatory. 



W't* recommend, therefore, that the solar physics work be 

 transferred to Cambridge, with an initial grant for build- 

 ings and a fixed annual inclusive grant-in-aid to the Uni- 

 vf-rsity, provided that the University will agree to the 

 following conditions : — 



(r) That the professor of astrophysics be the director of 

 lh»> Solar Observatory. 



(2) That there be a committee or syndicate nominated by 

 the University with functions similar to those of the Board 

 of Visitors of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. 



(3) That the Astronomer Royal and the director of the 

 Meteorological Office be ex officio members of the com- 

 mittee or syndicate. 



(4) That the University undertake to carry out at the 

 nt-w observatory the necessary amount of routine work on 

 the general lines indicated in paragraph 14 (b) and (c). 



(5) That an annual report, to include a statement of the 

 work done, and an abstract of the accounts of the Solar 

 Observatory showing the application of the grant-in-aid, 

 be presented by the director to the committee or syndicate, 

 to be by them transmitted to the Treasury. 



With a view to securing the permanence of any arrange- 

 ment that may now be made, the committee desire to point 

 out the importance of attaching the directorship of the 

 Solar Observatory, if established at Cambridge, to a pro- 

 fessorship which is not merely of a temporary character. 

 The University may not be in a position, at present, to 

 give any definite assurance that the professorship will be 

 renewed at the expiration of the present tenure ; but we 

 consider it highly desirable that the Government should 

 ascertain, before coming to a final decision, whether the 

 University is willing at an early opportunity to consider 

 favourably the establishment of a professorship of astro- 

 physics on a permanent foundation. 



Dr. Glazebrook dissents from these conclusions and 

 recommendations, and remarks : — 



I believe that the evidence placed before the committee 

 and the facts detailed in the report lead to the conclusion 

 that, on a balance of all the considerations, a scheme for 

 locating the observatory at Fosterdown, under conditions 

 similar to those outlined in section 23 of the report, could 

 be arranged at an annual cost of 3000Z. with a capital 

 outlay of 5000Z., and would secure the best results. 



The report is of a far-reaching character, and if 

 approved will result In the abolition, and not merely 

 in the transfer, of the Solar Physics Observatory, and 

 the dismissal of its staff. 



We believe that it has not yet been referred to the 

 Solar Physics Committee, and that steps are being 

 taken to bring disinterested scientific opinion to bear 

 upon the question. So far as public opinion is con- 

 cerned. The Morning Post and The Daily Graphic 

 alone have dealt with the matter. The articles are as 

 follows : — 



Examination of the majority report of the committee 

 appointed to inquire into the future of the Solar Physics 

 Observatory at South Kensington must awaken surprise 

 and dismay in the minds of those acquainted with the past 

 history and present working of this institution. Founded 

 forty 3-ears ago, when South Kensington was almost a 

 vacant site^ it was the pioneer in solar observation ; the 

 first observatory to examine the solar prominences ; the 

 first to observe sunspots systematically, and the first to 

 attempt to correlate solar and terrestrial phenomena. The 

 lead it gave has been followed by other observatories, and 

 the methods it instituted are those which have been adopted 

 by the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory in California, 

 which is now the chief station for observations of the sun. 



When the observations at South Kensington were first 

 undertaken, it was understood that the institution was to 

 be regarded as a Government institution, supported bv 

 Government contributions. The grant made was not a 

 large one, though to the observatory and its servants it 

 sufficed to make the work done there known all over the 

 world. But it has remained at the insignificant figure of 

 3000Z. a year, on the ground that it was useless to spend 



NO. 2192, VOL. 88] 



money for instruments at an observatory which was bein^ 

 so surrounded by high buildings that its opportunities for 

 observation were yearly becoming more limited. That wa- 

 reasonable, and the observatory, through its ofTicials — a> 

 well as through the .Solar Physics Committee, which wa~ 

 formed at Sir Norman Lockyer's initiative to coordinat* 

 the work of solar observatories — continually urged th'; 

 removal of the observatory to a more suitable site. Such a 

 site offcrfd itself at Fosterdown, which is a distant fort on 

 the Surrey Hills, 800 feet above the sea, and which becam<- 

 vacant through the abandonment of the obsolete def'-P'-^ 

 of London. The site had the several advantages desii • 

 and necessary in an observatory : it had a very wide sw. ■ j 

 of horizon in all directions ; it was removed from the glan- 

 of electric lights, from smoke, or vibration. Its concrete 

 floors would have been suited in several instances to the 

 requirements of the foundations of the beds of telescopes. 



Fosterdown has, however, been rejected by tTie majority 

 of the committee in favour of Cambridge, on the ground 

 that at Cabmridge there would be closer association with 

 men of science. The loss of efficiency which will result 

 from giving effect to the decision is signal. Cambridge 

 lies in a flat country, and the observatory is in a river 

 valley. The elevation of the observatory there is 70 feet ; 

 it is near enough a road to suffer from vibration. Its night 

 observations are prejudiced by the glare of the Cambridg'- 

 electric lights; its daylight observations by a town's smoke. 

 If it were only on account of the absence of elevation the 

 site of the observatory would be unsatisfactory. Nearly 

 every great observatory in the world has sought elevation. 

 Paris (Meudon) has gone from 194 feet to 534, Potsdam 

 from 112 to 318. Chicago, the Lick Observatory, Mount 

 Wilson, Flagstaff, Nice, Washington, Madras, Mount Etna, 

 are all at an elevation of lOQO feet or more. 



Moreover, the committee themselves admit that Foster- 

 down is the preferable site, a very inadequate expression 

 of the difference between Cambridge and Fosterdown in 

 view of the evidence that was heard. For the Cambridge 

 site is bound to deteriorate as buildings spring up around 

 it and as the traffic on the road increases, causing vibra- 

 tion. Nor is there any proper provision made for the 

 carrying on of the work. The present professorship is not 

 a salaried post, and it is unlikely that a man of high 

 position will be induced to fill the post as Mr. Newall has 

 done, or that he will be attracted by the meagre emolument 

 of 200Z. offered in connection with the new post. The 

 committee has apparently neglected the view that the trup 

 work of a university is to train and fit men to undertake 

 work. For this Cambridge is already adequately equipped, 

 and this is the legitimate work of a professor rather than 

 the management of an important scientific institution for 

 the conduct of research. As regards Fosterdown, the com- 

 mittee adniit that it is probably as good a site as can be 

 found in England. 



Nor can the report of the committee be accepted with 

 confidence. From the scientific standpoint the opinion of 

 the Treasury representative can naturally carrv no weight. 

 The three other signatories of the report are all men of 

 the his:hest standing, but they are all old Cambridge men, 

 and without their being in any way conscious of bias, it 

 is not improbable that they may have been unconsciouslv 

 influenced in their view by their natural lovalty to Alma 

 Mater. Even so, Dr. Glazebrook, who, as president of the 

 National Physics Laboratory, has especial experience in the 

 work of administration, has dissented from his colleagues. 

 advocating the establishment of the observatory at Foster- 

 down, and recommending that it should be under a director 

 who should give his whole time to the work. 



Lastly, quite apart from the material disadvantages of 

 the Cambridge site, there is the far more important one 

 that the removal thither, which would make the Solar 

 Physics Observatory an appanage of an observatory already 

 existing, would imply the dissolution of an institution and 

 the disoersal of a staff which is of international importance 

 and repute. — The Morning Post. 



In astronomical circles the recommendation of the 

 departmental committee that the old Solar Physics 

 Observatory at South Kensington should be removed to 

 Cambridge has been received w;ith surprise. Economy is 

 the one practical reason for the recommendation ; in the 

 words of a well-known astronomer to a representative of 



