Article ID: CBB000831607

Lowell Observatory Enters the Twentieth Century---in the 1950s (2007)

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By the 1950s, the Lowell Observatory was stagnant. The three senior astronomers had been there for decades and were no longer doing research or pubslising. Yet they jealously guarded the telescopes and prevented younger colleigues from using them effectively. Finally, the Trustee decided he had to make a change. He brought in mathematician Alber Wilson, who had been leading the Palomar sky survey for Caltech. Wilson started the Observatory on the road to modernity but ran into personal problems and retired after two years. John Hall became director in 1958, just as the American reaction to Sputnik made abundant Federal resources available to science. In his ninteen years as director Hall completely revived the historic institution and brought it into the late twentieth century.

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Description On the management and directorship of the Lowell Observatory, focusing on the work of Albert G. Wilson and John S. Hall.


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Authors & Contributors
Zuidervaart, Huibert Jan
Zijlstra, Albert A.
Sullivan, Woodruff Turner
Stuik, Remko
Strano, Giorgio
Smith, Robert William
Concepts
Telescopes
Astronomy
Scientific apparatus and instruments
Astronomical observatories
Radio astronomy
Instruments, astronomical
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
18th century
17th century
21st century
20th century, late
Places
United States
Netherlands
Italy
Melbourne (Victoria, Australia)
Lisbon (Portugal)
England
Institutions
Leiden Observatory
Pulkovo Observatory
Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories, Jodrell Bank
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