IV 



SIR NORMAN LOCKYER AND SOLAR CHEMISTRY 



SIR NORMAN LOCKYER is professor of astronom- 

 ical physics and director of the solar observatory 

 at the Royal College of Science in South Kensington. 

 Here it is that his chief work has been done for some 

 thirty years past. The foundation - stone of that 

 work is spectroscopic study of the sun and stars. In 

 this study Professor Lockyer was a pioneer, and he has 

 for years been recognized as the leader. But he is no 

 mere observer ; he is a generalizer as well ; and he long 

 since evolved revolutionary ideas as to the origin of the 

 sidereal and solar systems. 



For a man whose chief occupation is the study of 

 the sun and stars, smoky, foggy, cloudy London may 

 seem a strange location. I asked Professor Lockyer 

 about this, and his reply was most characteristic. 

 "The fact is," he said, "the weather here is too fine 

 from one point of view: my working staff is so small, 

 and the number of working nights so large, that most 

 of the time there is no one about to do anything during 

 the day. Then, another thing, here at South Ken- 

 sington I am in touch with my colleagues in the other 

 departments physics, chemistry, and so forth and 



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