The Observatory at Greenwich showing tne ntw DuUdmgs erected daring ^^u- W'liham Christie's period oi cince 



SIR WILLIAM CHRISTIE AXD GREEXWICH 



OBSERX'ATORY. 



Bv E. S. GREW. .M.A. 



It is no exaggeration of phrase to say that Sir 

 WilHam Christie, whose period of office as Astronomer 

 Roval expires this year, has given to Greenwich 

 Observatorv the devotion of a hfe-time. The 

 Observatory as a modern implement of astronomical 



research is of his making 



and during his generation 



astronom\- has become by the multiplication of its 

 instruments an immeasurably more complex science 

 than in the preceding period of its histon,". In essence, 

 its foundation, which is that of the attainment of the 

 highest degree of accuracy, remains the same : but 

 with each new instrument designed to approximate 



Greenwich Observatorj- in the time of the previous Astronomer Royal. 



397 



