Donald Menzel and the Beginnings of the High Altitude Observatory

HAO is a division of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

DHM to Bruckman M. H. , 6 January 1961 [courtesy of Chas. Andresen].

See Liebowitz R. P. , “Donald Menzel and the creation of the Sacramento Peak Observatory”, Journal for the history of astronomy, xxxiii (2002), 193–211.

An excellent account of the Climax Molybdenum Company is provided by Voynick S. A. , Climax: The history of Colorado's Climax molybdenum mine (Missoula, MT, 1996).

The history of NCAR through 1970 can be found in Halhgren E. L. , The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and the National Center for Atmospheric Research 1960–1970: An institutional history (Boulder, CO, 1974). This document draws heavily on primary source materials and provides a thorough, if dry, accounting of the key facts and personages involved in the NSF's decision to create a centre for research in the atmospheric sciences. Chap. 3 is devoted to the HAO. See also, Mazuzan G. T. , “Up, up, and away: The reinvigorating of meteorology in the United States: 1958–1962”, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, lxix (1988), 1152–64.

Moore J. H. , “The Lick Observatory-Crocker eclipse expedition to Fryeburg, Maine, August 31, 1932”, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, xliv (1932), 341–52, describes the Lick-Crocker expedition. On WOR's participation, I have relied on conversations with his sister, Jean Roberts Reller, from May 2000. She emphasized WOR's fascination with photography, optics and astronomy as a teenager. Their father, she recalled, was not interested in the 31 August 1932 eclipse. It was therefore necessary for WOR to find his own way to a favourable site to view the eclipse.

For a comprehensive treatment of Lyot's coronagraph work, see Hufbauer K. , “Artificial eclipses: Bernard Lyot and the coronagraph, 1929–1939”, Historical studies in the physical and biological sciences, xxiv (1994), 337–94. For additional commentary consult Dollfus A. , “Bernard Lyot, l'invention du coronographe, et l'étude de la couronne: Un cinquantenaire”, L'astronomie, xcvii (1983), 107–28, 315–29; Malherbe J.-M. , Coutard C. and Roudier T. , “La fondation de l'obervatoire et les débuts de l'astronomie au Pic du Midi (1852–1947): Dernière partie”, ibid., cv (1991), 1–9; Gros M. , “Bernard Lyot (1897–1952)”, ibid., cxi (1998), 8–12. A discussion of the failed attempts is provided by Hale G. E. , “On some attempts to photograph the solar corona without an eclipse”, Astronomy & astrophysics, xiii (1894), 662–87; idem, “On some attempts to detect the solar corona in full sunlight with a bolometer”, Astrophysical journal, xii (1900), 372–5; Blunck G. , “Die Photographie der Sonnenumgebung ausserhalb der Finsternisse”, Astronomische Nachrichten, ccxxxi (1928), cols 337–42; Kienle H. and Siedentopf H. , “Beobachtung der Sonnenkorona ausserhalb der Finsternisse”, ibid., ccxxxv (1929), cols 9–10; Becker B. J. , “Priority, persuasion, and the virtue of perseverance: William Huggins's efforts to photograph the solar corona without an eclipse”, Journal for the history of astronomy, xxxi (2000), 223–43.

See the analysis in Hufbauer, op. cit. (ref. 7).

DHM, Autobiography (1974), a 681-page double-spaced typescript (copies have been deposited at the Niels Bohr Library, American Institute of Physics, College Park, Maryland, and the Harvard University Archives). The treatment of various episodes in his life and the factual bases for these events can be uneven at times in this quixotic and fascinating retrospective. Where it is possible, I have always used primary source material before reliance upon this work.

Gibbs Z. E. to DHM, 30 June 1933, HUA/HUG.

See, for example, “The International Astronomical Union”, Popular astronomy, xl (1932), 453–9; Hufbauer, op. cit. (ref. 7).

Russell H. N. , “The eclipse, bad weather, and a new way out”, Scientific American, cxlvii (1932), 338–9.

Aller L. H. to DHM, 25 September 1933, HUA/HUG. The original articles translated by Marshall were Lyot B. , “L'étude de la couronne solaire en dehors des éclipses”, L'astronomie, xlv (1931), 248–53; idem, “La photographie de la couronne solaire en dehors des éclipses et son étude au spectroheliograph”, ibid., xlvi (1932), 272–87.

Marshall's preface is in Lyot B. , “The study of the solar corona without an eclipse”, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, xxvii (1933), 225–34, 265–80. A note in the New York Times that appeared on 13 May 1934 (VIII, 6:5) states: “From the observatory of the University of Michigan comes news of the discovery by Dr. Roy K. Marshall and Dr. D. H. Menzel (Harvard) of neon and of ‘double ionized’ oxygen in certain very hot, blue-white stars in Orion which have temperatures of about 36,000 degrees” DHM F. Marshall Roy K. , “Neon absorption lines in stellar spectra”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, xix (1933), 879–81. This provides strong evidence that DHM and Marshall were in professional contact during the time when Marshall translated Lyot's articles.

HS to DHM, 27 May 1936, HUA/UAV, Box 42. HS's correspondences with Lyot appear to predate DHM's. Both HS and Lyot attended the Fifth General Assembly of the IAU, held in Paris during the summer of 1935, and it was likely that they came into contact then, see Mitchell S. A. , “The Paris meeting of the International Astronomical Union”, Popular astronomy, xliii (1935), 478–83.

Skellett A. M. , “Proposal of a method of observing the solar corona without an eclipse”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, xx (1934), 461–4. A similar contribution appears as Skellett A. M. , “A method designed for observing the solar corona without eclipse”, Physical review, xlv (1934), 649. Another flurry of publications, both popular and scientific, appears six years later: Skellett A. M. , “The coronaviser”, The sky, iv (1940), 12–14; “The coronaviser”, The telescope, vii (1940), 54–56; “The coronaviser, an instrument for observing the solar corona in full sunlight”, Bell System technical journal, ix (1940), 249–61. See also, “Corona seen by television”, Science news letter, xxxvi (1939), 294; “82-inch telescope in use; view corona by television”, ibid., 404–5. Both Skellett and his coronaviser simply vanish from the literature following these contributions. A penetrating, but positive, assessment of the instrument is Babcock H. W. , Astrophysical journal, xcvi (1942), 242–53. The dénouement of the coronaviser may well be traced to the unfortunate fact that it was never deployed at an altitude surpassing that of the Cook and McDonald Observatories.

For a sampling of DHM's popularizations of astronomical discoveries and issues, see “The planetary nebulae”, Astronomical Society of the Pacific leaflet, 46 (1932); “The world of atoms”, ibid., #55 (1933); “What is light?”, ibid., #67 (1934); “Why take the Sun for granted?”, Scientific monthly, xli (1935), 65–69; “Why take the Sun for granted?”, The telescope, ii (1935), 76–83; New York Times, 14 June 1936; “Aurora Borealis”, The telescope, v (1938), 44; Christian Science Monitor, 17 August 1938; “Theoretical problems of stellar absorption lines”, Popular astronomy, xlvii (1939), 6–22, 66–79, 124–40; “Problems of the solar corona”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, lxxxi (1939), 107–24; “Some unsolved problems in astrophysics”, Astronomical Society of the Pacific leaflet, #125 (1939). As the Editor of The telescope from May 1937 onward, he contributed numerous small articles and commentaries. None of these contributions mentions Lyot, Skellett, or the coronagraph.

Autobiography (ref. 9).

The increased popularity of radio had certainly drawn some attention in the literature to magnetic storms and periods of radio communication disruption. See, for example, Hulburt E. O. , “Radio and the outer atmosphere”, Scientific monthly, xxxi (1931), 73–76; Kennelly A. E. , “Cosmic disturbances of the Earth's magnetic field and their influence upon radio communication”, ibid., xxxv (1932), 42–56.

For the honorary degree, awarded to Wallace in 1935, see Hershberg J. G. , James B. Conant: Harvard to Hiroshima and the making of the nuclear age (New York, 1983), 90. Note the later negative impact this innocuous event would have on DHM's fund raising efforts with the Harvard Alumnus, Spencer Penrose (see ref. 58). A profound and illuminating survey of a very complicated Wallace is given by Culver J. C. and Hyde J. , American dreamer: A life of Henry A. Wallace (New York, 2000).

Davis See W. , “The twentieth anniversary of Science Service”, Scientific monthly, liv (1942–2), marking the twentieth anniversary of the Science Service. Notice HS and Wallace sitting next to each other (with Vannevar Bush in the background) in the illustration that accompanies this article.

HS, Through rugged ways to the stars (New York, 1969), provides a framework to assess HS's politics and his affinity with Wallace and the Independent Movement. A specific, and notorious, example of their collaboration concerns the so-called Waldorf Peace Conference, held in New York City in late March of 1949. Much was written in the popular media about this event with a slant not particularly friendly to HS or Wallace, e.g. “Red visitors cause rumpus”, Life, 4 April 1949, 39 seq., and numerous articles appearing in the New York Times on 26 and 27 March 1949. The House Un-American Activities Committee issued their own report condemning this gathering, Review of the Scientific and Cultural Conference for World Peace, arranged by The National Council for the Arts Sciences and Professions, and held in New York City on March 25, 26, and 27, 1949, which makes for some interesting, if at times bizarre, reading.

Caldwell O. W. , “The Boston meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science”, Scientific monthly, xxxviii (1934), 189–94. The full text of Wallace's speech was reprinted in Wallace H. A. , “The social advantages and disadvantages of the engineering-scientific approach to civilization”, Science, lxxix (1934), 1–5, and it reads true even many decades later. This article provides ample evidence that Wallace would be approachable on the issue of supporting research with potential societal impacts. A later contribution, Wallace H. A. , “Research — The yeast in the loaf of agriculture”, Scientific monthly, xlii (1936), 5–29, expands on this theme and makes an ambiguous reference in the final paragraph to what might well have been DHM's new coronagraph project.

Autobiography (ref. 9). I have tried to date DHM's trip to visit Wallace based upon the letters cited in ref. 25, and the Scientific monthly article cited in ref. 23. I was unable to locate any primary source materials connecting DHM and Wallace, or his Agriculture Department, before the correspondence listed in ref. 25. 25. The basic sources are J. D. Black to DHM, 2 January 1936, 15 January 1936; J. A. Becker to DHM, 20 February 1936; C. L. Harlan to DHM, 9 March 1936, all HUA/HUG. Black was based in Harvard's Economics Department, while Becker and Harlan were with the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, the division Wallace presumably decided to saddle with DHM's anointed proposal. On French and Chambers, little background information is available. Stetson, of course, was well known for his semi-popular books on the Sun, and operated out of the neighbouring Massachusetts Institute of Technology. What, if anything, he contributed to DHM's program except for his name-recognition does not appear in the records. Only French, as we shall see, made tangible and long-term contributions to the effort.

For a tavel-log of DHM's eclipse adventures, see his series of dispatches to the New York Times, 4, 6, 30 May; 14, 21, 22 June; 22 July and 7 August 1936. Also, Hemmendinger H. , “While the Sun is eclipsed”, The telescope, iii (1936), 51–55; DHM, “The Harvard-MIT eclipse expedition”, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, xlviii (1936), 164–7; Gardner I. C. , “Observing an eclipse in Asiatic Russia”, National Geographic magazine, lxxi (1937), 179–97.

For example, DHM and Boyce J. C. , “Eclipse in Ak Bulak”, Technology review, xxxix (1936), 18–21, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44; DHM, Boyce J. C. , Hemmendinger H. , Atkinson E.R. and Brode W. R. , “The design and operation of the Harvard-MIT 1936 eclipse equipment”, Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College, cv (1937), 87–98.

G. W. Gray to DHM, 16 January 1937, and DHM's subsequent reply, both HUA/HUG.

DHM to Page L. F. , 1 April 1937, HUA/HUG. The Oak Ridge Station was located appropriately near the town of Harvard, MA, some 30 miles to the northwest of Cambridge. That this might have been one of the most favourable sites in New England for nighttime observation did not imply that coronal observations could be achieved through the overlying column-mass of atmosphere. This point DHM neglected to make in his proposal.

Sarle C. F. to DHM, 13 May 1937; L. F. Page to DHM, 7 July 1937, both HUA/HUG.

Wallace H. A. to DHM, 20 May 1937, HUA/HUG. DHM and Pekeris were not only Cambridge neighbours, but certainly well acquainted. They had recently collaborated on a widely cited paper on atomic physics, DHM and Pekeris C. L. , “Absorption coefficients and hydrogen line intensities”, Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, xcvi (1935), 77–111.

DHM to C. F. Sarle, 29 June 1937; DHM, “Investigation of solar variability” (Cambridge MA, unpublished report dated 31 March 1939), both HUA/HUG. This report manages to convey the sense that the difficulties mentioned in the text arose as a matter of course and were dispatched in a similar fashion. It was clearly intended for public consumption and did not acknowledge the atmosphere of angst and frustration that surrounds much of DHM's correspondences on this subject during the period 1935–38.

See HS's correspondences with St. Clair, HUA/UAV, Box 49.

On the Institute of Applied Optics, see Rayton W. B. , The future of optics in America (Rochester NY, unpublished report dated 30 January 1933), RUA. Fassin's career and activities are somewhat obscure, but O'Brien (1898–1992) had a distinguished career in optics. He worked in a variety of areas, achieving his first notice with work on the exploration of the stratosphere in the mid-1930s (Explorer II), and subsequent measurements of the thickness of the ozone layer. During the Second World War he developed an instrument called the Icaruscope, which permitted pilots to see approaching fighters using the sun at their back for camouflage. For this service, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit in 1948. Perhaps O'Brien's best-known invention was a motion picture lens made of artificial sapphire possessing a high index of refraction and low dispersion. Michael Todd first used this lens with great fanfare for the filming of Oklahoma! A charming piece on Todd and O'Brien is J. Sayre, Life, 7 March 1955, 140–2, 144, 146, 148, 151–2, 157.

Fassin G. to DHM, 9 April 1938, HUA/HUG.

DHM to Fassin G. , 12 April 1938, HUA/HUG.

DHM to L. H. Aller, 3 April 1937, HUA/HUG. On the Harvard Observatory's Summer School program, see DeVorkin D. H. , “The Harvard summer school in astronomy”, Physics today, xxxviii (1984), 48–55.

DHM to Tillyer E. D. , 8 June 1937; reply, 9 June 1937, both HUA/HUG.

DHM to Sarle C. F. (ref. 32).

Dyson F. and Woolley R. v. d. R. , Eclipses of the Sun and Moon (Oxford, 1937), 108–10. According to Hufbauer, op. cit. (ref. 7), Lyot made every effort to supply Dyson and Woolley with his best photographs, and fully disclosed the instrument design in order to secure his claims to the development of the first successful coronagraph.

DHM to Fassin G. , 29 September 1937, HUA/HUG. This letter is remarkable not only for the dramatic change of direction, but also DHM's tone and outlook, relative to his correspondences preceding this letter. One gains the impression that the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel had finally been sighted.

DHM to G. Fassin (ref. 41), “Investigation of solar variability” (ref. 32), WOR, “Preliminary studies of the solar corona and prominences with the Harvard coronagraph”, Harvard University Ph.D. thesis, 1943 (hereafter “Thesis”), 40. Wood, incidentally, was also one of the many who tried their luck at observing the corona outside of an eclipse and failed, e.g. Wood R. W. , “The problem of the daylight observation of the corona”, Astrophysical journal, xii (1900), 281–6.

W. H. Wright to DHM, 24 December 1937, HUA/HUG. On the relationship between Wright and DHM see Osterbrock D. E. , “Young Don Menzel's amazing adventures at Lick Observatory”, Journal for the history of astronomy, xxxiii (2002), 95–118.

DHM to W. H. Dow, 11 April 1938, HUA/HUG. Dow (1897–1949) met an untimely end in an airplane crash, New York Times, 1 April 1949. DHM obviously enjoyed a cordial relationship with this giant of American manufacturing. A good example of the publicity afforded to Dow Chemical Company by the Ak-Bulak eclipse expedition is the article by DHM and J. C. Boyce (ref. 27), and especially the advertisement “DowMetal's Place in the Sun” that immediately follows on p. 43.

DHM to B. Lyot, 23 February 1938; B. Lyot to DHM, 3 April 1938, 25 May 1938, all HUA/HUG. The tone of these letters strongly suggests that Lyot and DHM were not personally acquainted at this time, although each knew of the other's work. Lyot, for example, was interested in seeing data from the Ak-Bulak eclipse expedition relating to the chromospheric and coronal emission lines that had been detected by the Harvard-MIT group. He managed to obtain some of these data in exchange for information on his coronagraph.

DHM to W. H. Wright, 2 May 1938, HUA/HUG.

DHM to W. H. Wright, 26 May 1938, HUA/HUG. DHM's complete sense of despair at this lowest point of his coronagraph project is evident from this letter to Wright.

C. F. Sarle to DHM, 28 January 1938, 18 June 1938; DHM to C. F. Sarle, 11 June 1938, all HUA/HUG.

DHM to J. F. Stone, 19 September 1938, HUA/HUG. On DHM's first encounter with Stone, see Autobiography (ref. 9). Stone (1854/57-1947) seems to have had a personal weakness for funding spectrographs, and having them named for his family; see for example McMath R. R. , “The Julius F. Stone spectroheliograph for the determination of solar atmospheric radial velocities”, Publications of the Observatory of the University of Michigan, viii (1941), 141–7. For some additional background on Stone, see the New York Times, 27 July 1947.

Leonard F. C. , “The International Astronomical Union meeting at Stockholm, Sweden, 1938 August 3–10”, Popular astronomy, xlvi (1938), 538–47; Hufbauer, op. cit. (ref. 7).

DHM, “Investigation of solar variability” (ref. 32), relates the episode about Lyot pulling a paper with similar plans from his desk drawer. Figure 7, of Lyot B. , “A study of the solar corona and prominences without eclipses”, Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, xcix (1939), 580–94, shows the disadvantages of Lyot's third and final coronagraph relative to the Coudé concept. This superior design provided for a mirror that would reflect the coronal image down the polar axis to the spectrograph assembly, or when removed from the beam would permit the coronal image to pass straight down the telescope assembly and into the camera unit. Unfortunately, this mirror was placed before the field lens, which then had to be duplicated along both the photograph and spectrograph beams. This led to additional complications as pointed out by WOR in his thesis (ref. 42).

DHM to HS, 18 November 1938, HUA/HUG.

The account provided here is taken directly from Hufbauer, op. cit. (ref. 7). Max Waldmeier (1912–2000) is an enigmatic figure in solar astronomy. He clearly appreciated the value of the coronagraph for advancing the understanding of solar-terrestrial connections earlier than anyone else, and he produced a voluminous bounty of coronal data following the first successful observations at Arosa late in 1938. That he failed to achieve much of an impact given his diligent and meticulous work is therefore quite remarkable. He succeeded Brunner as the Director of Eidgenössische Sternwarte in 1945 and held that position for the next 34 years.

O'Brien's activities are recounted in Investigations of solar variability (ref. 32), and DHM's concept for a two-site operation is first mentioned in DHM to Julius F. Stone (ref. 49).

The instrument developed with French is briefly described in DHM, “Investigations of solar variability” (ref. 32). A more advanced instrument of this nature was subsequently devised by John W. Evans, Jr, and employed in site-selection for the second of DHM's Western observatories. See for example Evans J. W. Jr , “A photometer for measurement of sky brightness near the Sun”, Journal of the Optical Society of America, xxxviii (1948), 1083 seq. For the participation of DHM's father, Charles T. Menzel (1871–1943), see Autobiography (ref. 9).

DHM to T. B. Knowles, 12 May 1939; DHM, “Committee on National Scholarships” (Cambridge MA, unpublished report dated 7 October 1939), both HUA/HUG. Thomas Knowles was an active member of the Rocky Mountain Harvard Club, and an executive in the real estate business.

R. J. Moos to DHM, 29 May 1939; J. P. Murphy to DHM, 2 June 1939, both HUA/HUG. Moos was the Mayor of the mining town of Victor CO, and Murphy represented the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. The latter attempted to convince DHM of the superiority of the Sandia Mountains. It is interesting to note that the second of DHM's Western observatories would be located in the Sacramento Mountains, further south of the Sandia's, to compensate for the poor observing duty cycle of Climax.

DHM, “Committee on National Scholarships” (ref. 56). For Spencer Penrose (1865–1939), see his obituaries in the Denver Post, and New York Times, both 7 December 1939. On Claude Boettcher (1875–1957), consult Bean Geraldine B. , Charles Boettcher, a study in pioneer Western enterprise (Boulder CO, 1976). Helen G. Bonfils (1889–1972) and her elder sister were embroiled in litigation over the $25,000,000 estate left after the death of their father and mother in 1933 and 1935, respectively. Miss Bonfils succeeded her father as the publisher of the Denver Post, and the director of the Frederick G. Bonfils Foundation (established in 1927). See her extensive obituary in the Denver Post, 6 June 1972, for more details on her life and charitable activities.

W. C. Sterne to DHM, 24 October 1940; S. A. Ionides to DHM, 10 August 1939, both HUA/HUG. Billy Sterne (1898–1948) was a flamboyant Harvard alumnus who shared with DHM the profound enjoyment of an excellent hand of Bridge. He went on to become one of the original members of the HAO Board of Trustees in 1946. Ionides (1880–1943), and his daughter Margaret L. Ionides, were serious historians of astronomy. They wrote several articles for Popular astronomy and contributed to the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific leaflet series (“Astronomy in ancient Greece”, #145 (1941); “Astronomy in ancient Egypt”, #153 (1941)). It is ironic that DHM was less than generous in his review of their book, Stars and men (New York, 1939), for The telescope, vii (1940), 71. DHM had succeeded Loring B. Andrews as Editor of this magazine in May 1937. Some background on Stephen Ionides may be found in his obituaries, Aitken R. G. , “Bernard Benfield, John D. Galloway, and Stephen A. Ionides”, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, lv (1943), 92–95; Denver Post, 28 January 1943; Rocky Mountain News, 29 January 1943.

Autobiography (ref. 9).

The standard miner's joke was that Climax had nine months of winter and three months of poor skiing. Voynick, op. cit. (ref. 4), provides excellent background and numerous photographs of the mining operation, as it existed in 1939. The Climax Molybdenum Company (CMC) had spent in the neighbourhood of $4,000,000 during 1936 alone in providing amenities and housing facilities in an attempt to mitigate the harsh climate's influence on their employee turnover rate. Some of the new facilities included a school, bowling alleys, a movie theatre, and even an indoor swimming pool. The CMC provided for a private clinic, hospital, and medical doctor on the site. This unusual example of corporate social enlightenment was entirely the work of Max Schott. The costs were well-justified by the fact that the mine was processing 12,000 tons of ore per day by December 1938.

DHM to M. Schott, 14 October 1939, HUA/HUG. Max Schott (1876–1955), like Ionides, is a fascinating but reclusive personality. The best source remains Voynick, op. cit. (ref. 4), and the infamous article on Schott and Climax Molybdenum Company (CMC) that appeared as “Element number forty-two”, in Fortune, xiv/4 (October 1936), 105–9, 187–8, 190, 192, 194, 197. As Voynick points out, this article induced two spectacular lawsuits when it was realized that Schott and CMC had actually prospered through the Great Depression. A share of CMC stock worth $1 in 1928 had an equivalent value of $1200 by 1935. The Schott family's 200,000 shares of CMC stock, as well as the comparable holdings of the remainder of the Board of Directors, were therefore ripe targets for litigation. Interestingly, Schott was in the midst of these legal actions during 1940/1941, when his unexpected generosity made the Climax Observatory possible. Perhaps characteristically, Schott's obituary reveals little about the man, New York Times, 11 November 1955.

M. Schott to DHM, 5 April 1940; M. Schott to H. A. Wood, Jr, 5 April 1940, both HUA/HUG.

R.L.Carr to DHM, 18 March 1940, HUA/HUG. Ralph L. Carr (1887–1950) was Colorado Governor from 1939 to 1943. DHM fared no better in his attempt to rouse the partisanship of Colorado Congressman Edward Thomas Taylor (1858–1941), against the growing California monopoly on astronomical observatories, e.g., DHM to E. T. Taylor, 14 April 1939, HUA/HUG.

DHM to C. F. Sarle, 27 November 1939, HUA/HUG.

WOR granted several interviews during his lifetime; in many of them he discusses his personal career and education. The most extensive dates from 1983 and was conducted by David DeVorkin as part of the American Institute for Physics Oral History Program, AIP/CHP. The version I have used is the original transcript from this interview, edited by WOR's own hand, which will herein be referred to as WOR83, NCARA. A fragment of a full transcript from an interview conducted in 1966 by an unknown person also contains much material on this early period of WOR's life. This fragment bears the title, Early history of the High Altitude Observatory, and will be designated WOR66 in what follows. A much-abbreviated repetition of this same material was published as WOR, “Variations in the Sun and their effects on weather and climate”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, cxxiii (1979), 151–9. In 1989, Janet Smock Roberts wrote a delightful 50-page manuscript, Glory hole, which recounts her adventures with WOR from 1939 through their departure from Climax in 1947. I have drawn liberally from these four sources, and the Autobiography (ref. 9) in reconstructing the sequence of events laid out in the text.

WOR83 (ref. 66), 28. WOR recalled that HS quickly turned the conversation in the direction of his studies on ants, by physically turning the special lazy-susan style desk in his office to the compartment with bottles of preserved ants. On HS and his fascination with ants, see HS, op. cit. (ref. 22).

French Hobart W. Jr , “Preliminary tests of coronagraph” (Cambridge MA, unpublished report dated 23 June 1939), HUA/HUG. This document appears to be French's final report of his activities to DHM before he left for Rochester. It contains a list of recommendations for improvement after the disappointing showing in the May 1939 testing episode.

French , “Preliminary tests of coronagraph” (ref. 68).

WOR's recollection of this conversation with C. E. K. Mees is from WOR83 (ref. 66), 36. For background on Mees, see Clark W. , “Charles Edward Kenneth Mees, 1882–1960”, Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, vii (1961), 173–97.

French H. W. Jr , to DHM, 14 September 1939, HUA/HUG.

WOR's “Laboratory notebooks” comprise ten volumes that follow sequentially from the first entry of vol. i, 8 September 1939, through 6 September 1950 of vol. x. With the passage of time, these gradually evolved from traditional lab notebooks to daily logs of solar activity and drawings of the shape of the corona. A complementary set of notebooks was devoted to recording daily weather conditions at the observatory. Different hands are evident in these notebooks, indicating the rapid turnover in part-time assistants who aided WOR with his observing activities, NCARA.

Schott to Wood (ref. 63).

See, e.g., Leadville Herald Democrat, Denver Post, New York Times, and the Christian Science Monitor, all 29 April 1940. The Easter Sunday storm was arguably the strongest in many decades, and it thus gained a significant amount of coverage in both popular and scientific circles, for example, Fleming J. A. , “The great magnetic storm”, Scientific monthly, 1 (1940), 475–80.

Schott M. to Conant J. B. , 29 April 1940, HUA/HUG.

WOR, “Laboratory notebooks” (ref. 72), i, 5; DHM, “Harvard coronagraph in Colorado”, The sky, iv (1940), 3–4.

See the New York Times, 5 September 1936; Bok B. J. , “The Harvard tercentenary meeting of the American Astronomical Society”, Scientific monthly, xliii (1936), 375–8; McLaughlin D. B. , “The fifty-sixth meeting of the American Astronomical Society”, Popular astronomy, xliv (1936), 467–71; Leclerc J. , “Le film à la société astronomique de France”, L'astronomie, lii (1938), 425–6.

DHM to HS, 24 May 1940, HUA/HUG.

DHM to W. H. Claflin, 9 May 1940, HUA/HUG.

Stearns J. C. , “The Mount Evans laboratory”, Scientific monthly, xlvi (1938), 242–8. John Evans (1884–1978) was the President of the First National Bank of Colorado and a Trustee of the University of Denver. His grandfather, of the same name (1814–97), was the second territorial governor of Colorado, and the founder of both Northwestern University and the University of Denver. Evanston IL, and Mt Evans, were both named in his honour.

HS to DHM, 20 May 1940, HUA/HUG.

D. S. Duncan to DHM, 25 July 1940, HUA/HUG.

Here, again, I have drawn heavily on the four primary sources listed in ref. 66. Walter S. Orr (1891–1961) was also a long-time Trustee of Amherst College, New York Times, 26 September 1961.

HS to DHM, 22 June 1940, HUA/HUG.

Roberts , Glory hole (ref. 66). The term “glory hole” was used by the miners to describe the gradual subsidence and collapse of material sitting above an underlying network of tunnels and cuts made lower in the mountain. The uniformity of the molybdenum ore in Bartlett Mountain made this extremely efficient and cost effective type of mining possible at Climax.

WOR to DHM, 23 July 1940, HUA/HUG.

HS to DHM, 24 July 1940, HUA/HUG.

Autobiography (ref. 9). Also WOR83, WOR66, and Roberts, Glory hole (ref. 66).

Autobiography (ref. 9).

HS to DHM 29 May 1940, HUA/HUG. On Fletcher G. Watson (1912–97) see Harvard University gazette, 15 May 1997.

John W. Evans Jack Jr (1909–99) was unrelated to the Evans family of Denver and Evanston. Evans obtained his Ph.D. degree at Harvard just before WOR arrived, and subsequently took a position at the Chabot Observatory. During the war he came east to Rochester and worked with Brian O'Brien. He joined WOR as HAO's second scientific staff member in June 1946. His private home, on 973 Grant Place, was HAO's first office site in Boulder. He left HAO in 1952 for a distinguished career as the Director and visionary scientific leader of DHM's second Western observatory, located near the summit of Sacramento Peak, in southern New Mexico.

J. W. Evans, Jr, to DHM, 3 September 1940, HUA/HUG.

J. W. Evans, Jr, to DHM (ref. 92); Evans J. W. , “The quartz polarizing monochromator”, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, lii (1940), 305–11; idem, “El filtro birrefringente”, Ciencia é investigación, iii (1947), 365 seq.

DHM to WOR, 11, 21, 30 October 1940; 20 November 1940; 21 December 1940; 8, 17 January 1941; 5 June 1941; 14 July 1941; 6 October 1941, all CUA.

“Thesis” (ref. 42), 36–49.

Gifts to Climax Observatory (Cambridge MA, undated report), HUA/HUG 4567.5, 1940 I-Z, 1941 A-C. Also, WOR66 (ref. 66). The list ranged from corporations, Sears Roebuck Company (miscellaneous merchandise), Public Service Company of Colorado (power transformer), American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation ($50), Timken Roller Bearing Company (roller bearings for the dome), Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation (insulation), B. F. Goodrich Company (rubber sheeting for the dome skirt), Daniels & Fisher (rugs), Kansas City Structural Steel Corporation (the observatory dome), to private individuals like the bon vivant Billy Sterne (electric stove and radio).

M. Schott to DHM, 15 May 1941, HUA/HUG.

F. B. Hensor to DHM, 19 May 1941, HUA/HUG. Hensor was the Associate Director of Natural Sciences for the Rockefeller Foundation. It is a sobering fact that DHM's proposal was rejected in less than two weeks time from when it was mailed.

J. B. Conant to DHM, 21 May 1941, HUA/HUG.

There are several slants on this particular issue in the two interview transcripts, and the article in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (ref. 66). I have presented the line that is essentially common to all. The “Thesis” (ref. 42), and the “Laboratory notebooks” (ref. 72), are unfortunately silent on this issue. See also Dellinger J. H. , “Direct effects of particular solar eruptions on terrestrial phenomena”, Physical review, 1 (1936), 1189; idem, “Sudden ionospheric disturbances”, Journal of terrestrial magnetism, xlii (1937), 49–53; Richardson R. S. , “Relation between bright chromospheric eruptions and fade-outs of high-frequency radio transmission”, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, il (1937), 82–86; Waldmeier M. , “Sonneneruptionen und ionosphärische Störungen”, Zeitschrift für Astrophysik, xiv (1937), 229–41; idem, “Untersuchungen an der grünen Koronalinie 5303 Å”, ibid., xix (1939), 21–44; idem, “Vergleichende Beobachtungen an den Koronalinien 5303, 5694, und 6374 Å”, ibid., xx (1941), 172–94; McNish A. G. , “The great geomagnetic storm of September 18–19, 1941”, Scientific monthly, liii (1941), 478–81.

J. C. Boyce to DHM, 30 January 1942; DHM to J. C. Boyce, 2 February 1942, both HUA/HUG. Boyce (1903–83) accompanied DHM on the eclipse expedition to Ak-Bulak in 1936.

DHM to WOR, 2 February 1942, 12, 25 March 1942, all CUA.

For example, Levy D. H. , The man who sold the Milky Way: A biography of Bart Bok (Tucson AZ, 1993), 74–95.