IN STARRY SKIES

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 127, 2 June 1927, Page 4

IN STARRY SKIES

BftmED A. PROCTOR BOOKS WHICH DELIGHTED THOUSANDS | (By "Omega CentaurL") No other English "writer has done aw mach as Eiehard Anthony Proctor Jo aroma a keen and widespread interest in the' greatest of the sciences. Fifty years ago his books were pouring from the Press, every year bringing something new that was eagerly looked for and heartily welcomed. A knowledge of the marvellous universe, and An intelligent interest in it, both of which are strangely missing at the present day in spite of all the sensational discoveries of recent years, were then fairly general. And this I widely diffused knowledge and inter-] est-were mainly due to Proctor's popular writings, which were then read and discussed even by boys -at school. It is a very strange fact, and one M special interest to us in New Zealand, that this great extension in the knowledge of astronomy, and in the enthusiasm with' which its discoveries were for a time received, was indirectly due to the failure of a bant in Dunedin. With his keen intellect, his wide interests, his astonishing energy, bis love of truth, and his delight in making .difficult matters clear, there is little doubt that, in any circumstances, Proctor would have been impelled to do important scientific work. But it is also certain that a financial crisis in hie affairs directed his energies iuto a tnore popular channel. Proctor's life, unfortunately short, coincided with the first half-century of Queen Victoria's long reign. He was born in Cheyne Eow, Chelsea, on 23rd Jfarch, 1837, ana died in New York ton 12th Seeptember, 1888. . His father died when he was thirteen years of fege. He was himself, very delicate as a ithild, and so his mother kept him at Jiome as long as possible, and took B. A. PROCTOR. "eS.° n tj 1? liverDuring his second year at Cambridge he lost his mother Jo whom he Was devotedly . attached, but before very long hs found consolation in the love of a young Irish lady, whom he married whilst still an undergradtsate. In, the Mathematical tripos of 1860 he ' came out twenty-third wrangler^ a position which disappointed his friends who had already recognised his great abilities. But his main Object had never been to secure a high degree. He had given to mathematics ouly the time which he could spare from literature and,the athletic exercises which were essential for his health. Fortunately, therefore, his lovo of science was never dulled by cram. He left Cambridge having read comparatively little in mathematics, but with an intense love for it. Neither had he read anything in astronomy, and he had no idea how full of interest to him it was destined later to become. But a few months after leaving Cambridge he picked up two books at a bookstall in Glasgow. These were }Jiehol's "Architecture of tho Heavens" and Mitchell's "Planetary and Stellar Worlds." He also bought a telescope, which he mounted in a manner devised by himself, and he began to atudy astronomy seriously in his quiet home at Ayr. Quickly his special interest in the subject grew in intensity and then lasted unwaveringly for the rest of his life. He soon planned, for his eldest son, a syßtem of education which he hoped would be the very antithesis of the dull system then in vogue ,of cramming the memory with the _dry husks of knowledge. The desire jiow came upon him to communicatejj'to others the discoveries which he made, but for a long time lie systematically destroyed everything he wrojj, because, when he read his papers through after a week or two, ho found them- w nting in clearness or imperfeet~in style. But in 1863 he ventured i& send to the editor of the "Cornhiil "Magazine' an article on "The Col©uraEpf the Double .Stars." This article, ;*fhich filled nine pages of the magasiney^had taken. him six weeks to write> sometimes a day's work yielding only-.four or five lines. He waa very surprised when a copy of the magaainejjeached him containing his article, acccgnpanied by a cheque for ten guiteajinn payment for it. H«r next wrote a more elaborate article, on the "Kings of Saturn," for the iXjune journal, but it was declined *>T it*l*, editor, who pointed out that the H^Mers of a popular magazine coul* not bo expected to follow closed reasoning on scientific lnatterslp Proctor recognised the justness^ of this view, but his interest in the wonderful Saturnian system had been so thoroughly aroused >ihat he continued to collect materials for a fuller treatise on it. He hadj-libw moved .to Stoke, near Plymouth, and was within reach of the library^of the Mechanics' Institute at Devtmport and a larger library at Plymouth. He was thus able to consult an old *ditipn of Herschel 's Astronomy, ClerSj Maxwell's essay on Saturn's KinglJ, an odd volume of the Monthly Notigfes of the Eoyal Astronomical Societj§{ and -the Cyclopedia of Bees. Everything ; beyond what could "be foun« in these books he. had-to , acly and himself, and this led him ao adopt methods of analysis he had 'hitherto neglected. He tells us that^he did not even use logarithms untiljhe had been at work for some time»H?n these intricate calculations. The "^Hborate drawings he. made for this work took nuch time, and were so earefjiliy finished that the engraver said they looked as if they had been printed from: fine engravings. Late in 1864 jthe work,was ready . for the printers,' but the difficulty was to find. a publisher. Proctor soon discovered that-th-e only way to get it printed was t* P?y the estimated expenses in advaneei In 1865 a thousand copies of. the fiicok were printed on these terms. The work was very favourably received b# astronomers, but the sale of copied;.was extremely . disappointing. Proctor had greatly overestimated the. capacity of the public for absorbing such solid 'ohental food, and he quickly realised* that his outlay would not be repaid. Nevertheless he planned a whole series "of monographs in which he intende<jr*to treat in succession of Mars, Jupiter, the Sun, the Moon, comets, meteors, stars, star clusters, and nebulae. 2jo doubt he would have carried out thfyj purpose if the calamity already areferred to had not intervened.' He had actually started the monograph on Mars when the blow fell. During the commercial panic of 1866 the New' Zealand Overeiid Gurney Bank/in which he held a considerable share; failed; and all his capital was absorbed. Suddenly, instead of enjoying ample independent means, he was forced ,;to find some way of supporting 'his'rgrowing family. He had to consider whether his duty demanded that he should forsake astronomy; for more 1

remunerative work. By a fortunate coincidence he had received a request for two popular articles from the editor of "Popular Science" only a day or two before the news of the bank failure reached him. He had started to write a letter declining the offer when the 'startling news came. The very next morning he was hard at work on the first of these popular articles, and he did not take a single day's holiday during the following- five years. He met with innumerable disappointments. His articles were sent back to him again and again. Publishers were equally shy of his proposed books and star atlases. Even Messrs. Longmans, the publishers of "Saturn and Its System," would not take his "Handbook of the Stars." Macmillan, also declined it. With the help of a friend, however, Proctor published 500 copies of the book himself, and followed it with "Constellation Seasons," and "Sun Views of the Earth." All these paid their expenses and brought in a few pounds over, but not enough to justify any further editions. At last, in 1868, Messrs. Hardwick engaged him to write "Half Hours with the Telescope," and paid him £25 for the copyright of each of the first "two thousand copies. It is interesting to note that twenty-one years later this book had' reached its twentieth edition. But meanwhile, in the late 'sixties, Proctor's struggle for recognition was by no means over. ' His monograph on Mars was declined in succession by three leading publishers, and a large star atlas on a-new plan was rejected by the Royal Astronomical Society as well as by the publishers. For a time Proctor was forced,, to undertake work which was most distasteful to him. He -advertised for pupils in mathematics, and coached students for Woolwich and Sandhurst. But he had nearly learned the lesson that the reading public m-ist not be invited to bi anything which required any prolonged effort of reasoning, or w'lich called in any way for arduous study. He had always wanted to discover the truth as it is, but now, he tells us in some autobiographical notes, he wanted still more to perform the task, at once more commonplace and less commonly aimed at, of presenting clearly what he recognised as truth. Now, if he was to have many readers, he realised that he must write in a more popular style. He never gave up his purpose of writing a long series of technical scientific books, but this work had to be put aside while he attended to the urgent necessity of earning a living. In this case the necessity which he deplored led to a "greater good for a greater number As soon as ho changed his style, his articles were more frequently accepted. Before long he became a regular contributor to the "Intellectual Observer," to "Chamber's Journal," and to the "Popular Science Review." ' In 1870 appeared the first of the long series of. popular books which made his name a household word amongst English-speaking peoples. In "Other Worlds Than Ours" ho gave tho results of much serious study, and investigation, but he found that, to gain its acceptance' he had to make it appear under the guise of a popular treatise. Few, he tells us, recognised its real purpose except Sir John Herschel, Herbert Spencer, Oscar Pesehel, and Gerigny. The critics discussed it from the point of view of the scarcely scientific problem of 15""" in other worlds. But fortunately public interest was at least aroused, and-the book was commercially successful. During the next three years Proctor published no less than seven books, and.this astonishing output represented but. a portion of his work, since for part of - the time he was secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society, mid chief contributor to the Monthly Notices. In 1871 appeared "Light Science For Leisuro Hours," and his great treatise on "The Sun, Kuler, Fire, Light and Life of the Planetary * System." The design of this work had to be greatly changed from the original plan, and even thon ii wns found to bo hardly popular enough. Many carefully-writ-ten passages,-.which wero really the finest portions of the original book, had to be omitted from later editions as being too difficult for tho general reader. The same remarks apply to "The Moon: Her Motions, Aspects, Scenery, and Physical Condition," which was published two years, later. Amongst the portion's deleted from this book in succeeding editions was a fine exposition of the meteoric theory of lunar crators. Whilst Proctor was writing these popular books, he was continually engaged in serious scientific research, nntl was frequently making important discoveries. One of his great achievements in' 1870 was the discovery of Star Drift.; He found that five of the seven brightest stars in "The Plough" in Ursa Major are moving at the same speed in the same direction. One of these, Mizar, has also two small stars connected with it, and sharing its proper. motion. Later Huggins measured the velocities of these stars ;in the 'lino of sight and confirmed. Proctor's conclusions. Twenty-nine years after Proctor's discovery Hertzspruiig, of Potsdam, pointed out' eight, other stars moving along paths parallel to those ; of The Plough.. One of' these is Sirius, the brightest star in the heavens. Many similar systems were discovered later, and those prepared the way for Knptoyn's picture of star streams, and the modern theory of the Galaxy as a cosmic organism.