Overview of the Collection
Access
Administrative Information
Cataloger's Note
Related Materials in the Huntington Library
Biographical Note
Scope and Content
Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Overview of the Collection
Title: Francis Gladheim Pease Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1850-1937
Bulk dates: 1905-1937
Collection Number: mssPease papers
Creator:
Pease, F. G. (Francis
Gladheim), 1881-
Extent:
Approximately 4,250 items in 18 boxes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection consists of the research papers of American astronomer Francis Pease (1881-1938),
one of the original staff members of the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory.
Language:
English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Francis Gladheim Pease Papers, The Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.
Provenance
Deposit, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington Collection ,
1988.
Approximately fifty additional separate collections form the Mount Wilson Papers
of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and are available
for research in the Manuscripts Department of the Huntington Library.
First three boxes purchased from Charles Apfelbaum, January 9, 1992.
Cataloger's Note
Boxes 15, 16, and 17 contains engineering drawings and notes by Pease. These notes
were found loose in the boxes so the cataloger put them into folders for ease of use
and better storage. The original order was kept and the folder titles were created
by the cataloger.
Related Materials in the Huntington Library
Biographical Note
Francis Gladheim Pease (1881-1938) was one of the original staff members of the Mount Wilson
Solar Observatory when it was formed in 1904. His most important contribution to the
Observatory was his expertise in the design and use of astronomical instruments.
Together with George W. Ritchey, Pease designed most of the equipment for the new
Observatory. His most significant work was in the design of the 100-inch Hooker
Telescope, the 20-foot and 50-foot Interferometers, and the 200-inch Hale Telescope.
In the field of astronomical observations, Pease is best remembered for his
collaborations with Albert A. Michelson, the Nobel Laureate physicist at the
University of Chicago. Together, they developed new experiments for determining the
diameters of stars, the velocity of light, and the non-existence of the "ether."
Nevertheless, Pease will be noted for having been a major twentieth-century figure
in the field of astronomical instrument design.
Pease was born on January 14, 1881, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Daniel and
Katherine Bangs Pease. He did not reside long in Cambridge, however, for in 1889 the
family moved to Highland Park [or Highwood], Illinois. There his father was a
businessman and justice of the peace. One of five children, Pease attended high
school at Highland Park and matriculated at the Armour Institute of Technology in
Chicago. While in school Pease would work evenings at Petitdidier's optical shop.
Here he received his training in the field of instrument design and construction.
Pease's skills soon surfaced and before long Petitdidier could recommend the young
man to G. W. Ritchey, the optician at Yerkes Observatory. Ritchey could use Pease in
his shop and employed him upon the latter's graduation from Armour with a B.S. in
mechanical engineering in 1901. At Yerkes, Pease learned the trade of optical work
and engineering but also took part in astronomical observations, skills which would
be needed during the early years at Mt. Wilson. Pease also met his future wife,
Caroline T. Furness, during his last year at Yerkes. They were married in 1905, one
year later.
The director of Yerkes, George Ellery Hale had planned to establish a solar
observatory on Mt. Wilson, and in 1904 he obtained funding from the Carnegie
Institution of Washington to move the Snow Telescope from Yerkes to the California
mountain. Pease was one of the men (along with Ritchey, Walter S. Adams, and
Ferdinand Ellerman) called from Yerkes to assist in this task. When Mt. Wilson
Observatory was created as a separate institution in December, he stayed on to work
there, leaving his position at Yerkes.
Pease's early work at Mt. Wilson dealt with engineering and construction tasks. As a
result, he does not appear very much in the early Annual Reports of the Director.
Nevertheless, he was an important figure at the Observatory, designing, with
Ritchey, most of the early telescopes and structures on the mountain. He was mainly,
if not totally, responsible for the design of portions of the Snow Telescope, the
60-foot and 150-foot Solar Tower Telescopes, the 60-inch and 100- inch Telescopes,
the 50-foot Interferometer, as well as Hale's Solar Laboratory in Pasadena. Pease
also designed a hypothetical 300-inch telescope in 1926, much of which was
incorporated in the early planning of the 200-inch Hale Telescope on Palomar.
Indeed, after 1930 until his death, Pease spent half his time on the design of the
Hale Telescope.
Astronomically, Pease is best remembered for his collaborations with A. A.
Michelson. Michelson was often a Research Associate at Mt. Wilson where he would
prosecute his researches on the velocity of light and stellar diameters. The latter
experiment was one of the first uses of the 100-inch Hooker Telescope. Michelson and
Pease attached a 20-foot long interferometer beam onto the telescope tube. By
pointing the telescope at a nearby star and adjusting the distance between mirrors
on the beam, they could interferometrically determine the physical diameter of the
star. The success of this method in 1920 prompted Pease to construct a dedicated
50-foot interferometer on Mt. Wilson in 1928 to extend the scope of the stellar
diameter research. Unfortunately, the device proved to be not sensitive enough to
succeed with more distant stars.
As mentioned above, Michelson was also interested in redetermining the velocity of
light. Using the distance from equipment on Mt. Wilson to a mirror on Mt. San
Jacinto and back, as well as other locations, Michelson and Pease began their
attempts in the mid-1920s. Unsatisfied with the results, they turned their efforts
to constructing a mile-long tube at the Irvine Ranch in Santa Ana, California.
Evacuating the tube, they used it as their light path in the velocity of light
experiment. This work began in 1930, but Michelson died shortly thereafter. Pease,
with the assistance of Fred Pearson of Chicago, continued the experiment to its
successful conclusion in 1934. In a related matter, Pease in 1929 recreated the
Michelson-Morley ether drift experiment using a light path 85 feet long, once again
obtaining the famous negative result. Pease's papers contain a great deal of data on
the velocity of light and ether drift experiments.
Other astronomical tasks that occupied Pease's research time were in taking direct
photographs of the Moon, star clusters, and nebulae. He was also involved in the
determination of the rotation of a spiral nebula [galaxy] by spectrographic means.
In the 1920s, Pease was on the Committee for Study of the Surface Features of the
Moon, established by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. After 1904, he spent
almost all of his life at Mt. Wilson and Pasadena, passing away in the latter city
on February 7, 1938. Only two weeks later his friend and director, George Ellery
Hale, also died.
Although Pease was involved with the astronomical research of the Mt. Wilson
Observatory, his most significant contribution, as noted above, was to the design
and construction of the telescopes that dot the summit of the mountain. The 100-inch
Hooker Telescope, the largest in the world from 1917 to 1948, was largely his
design. As Walter Adams (second Director of Mt. Wilson) said, "The 100-inch
telescope in particular remains as an illustration of a simple and efficient type of
instrument constructed almost wholly in accordance with his design." Pease's status
in the history of astronomy is best summed up by Berendzen and Hart: "In
astronomical research, Pease made important, although not pioneering, contributions;
in instrument design, however, he was a leading figure of the twentieth century."
Bibliography
Adams, Walter S. "Francis G. Pease."
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 50 (1938): 119-21.
Berendzen, Richard, and Richard Hart. "Francis Gladhelm [sic] Pease."
Dictionary of Scientific Biography.
"Francis G. Pease."
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 99 (1938): 312.
Strömberg, Gustav. "Francis G. Pease, 1881-1938."
Popular Astronomy 46 (1938): 357-59.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of Francis Pease's research papers. It contains
correspondence, manuscripts, Pease's notes (including his work notes, many of which
contain various drawings and diagrams by him), reprints, photographs, etc. Topics
covered in the collection are numerous and include the Mount Wilson Observatory, the
Yerkes Observatory, astronomy and astronomers. The majority of it relates to Pease's
research on the speed-of-light (highlighting his manuscript with A. A. Michelson),
Ether drift, his observations of the Moon, the Sun, Jupiter, star diameters,
galaxies, nebulae, as well as his work on interferometers, and the design and
construction of telescopes.
The first three boxes consist of correspondence between Pease and other individuals;
these boxes are arranged alphabetically. In the correspondence files, the name on
the folder can mean they are the author or addressee of the letters in that folder
(if they are just the recipient of letters, then the word “recipient,” is after
their name). The correspondence folders, which contain many photocopies, may also
have manuscripts in them, as well as photographs.
The next series of boxes are arranged by topic and format; these folders include
correspondence, notes, manuscripts, reprints, photographs, etc. Manuscripts include
drafts of “Measurement of the Velocity of Light in a Partial Vacuum,” and “Modern
Large Telescope Design.” This series also contains Pease’s research notes, work
notes, and drawings and diagrams (blueprints). Topics include: the speed-of-light,
Ether drift, his observations of the Moon, the Sun, Jupiter, Stars, Galaxies,
Nebulae, as well as his work on interferometers, and the design and construction of
telescopes.
Participants in the collection include: Giorgio Abetti, Walter S. Adams, Robert
Grant Aitken, Edward E. Barnard, Paul Brockett, Clifford Crump, Arthur L. Day,
George Ellery Hale, Albert A. Michelson, Robert A. Millikan, George Moffitt, Frank
E. Ross, Henry N. Russell, Harlow Shapley, J. Vaurie, Latimer J. Wilson, F. E.
Wright, William Hammond Wright, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Carnegie
Institution of Washington, Corning Glass Works, Crucible Steel Company of America,
National Research Council (U.S.), Scientific American, inc., Southern California
Edison Company, and Spencer Lens Company. There are reprints of articles by Thomas
C. Chamberlin, Ejnar Hertzsprung, Sir James Hopwood Jeans, and J. C. Kapteyn.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged alphabetically by document type in 18 boxes:
-
Box 1: Correspondence, A – G
-
Box 2: Correspondence, E – P
-
Box 3: Correspondence, R – Y, Manuscripts and Miscellaneous
-
Box 4: Velocity of Light Records
-
Box 5: 100” Coudé Spectrograph – Miscellaneous #2’
-
Box 6: Miscellaneous Correspondence, Manuscripts, Notes, Stellar Diameters
-
Box 7: Nebulae and Interferometer Observations
-
Box 8: Observations, Ether Drift, Lens, Optics and Reprints of Articles by Pease
-
Box 9: Ether Drift Data and Estimated Telescope Weights
-
Box 10: Velocity of Light Records: Data Cards & Sheets and Experiment Record Books
-
Box 11: Velocity of Light Records: Tidal Force Curves and Original Chronograph Records
-
Box 12: 20-foot Interferometer and 100-inch Telescope
-
Box 13: Stellar Diameter Note Cards, Notebook on Optical Glass
-
Box 14: Optical work at Yerkes Observatory and Photographs
-
Box 15: Engineering Drawings & Notes, folders 1 – 5
-
Box 16: Engineering Drawings & Notes, folders 6 – 11
-
Box 17: Engineering Drawings & Notes, folders 12 – 13
-
Box 18: Articles, Manuscripts, Notes, Publications and Reprints
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Pease, F. G. (Francis
Gladheim), 1881-
Carnegie Institution of
Washington.
Mount Wilson and
Palomar Observatories -- History -- Sources.
Mount Wilson
Observatory -- History -- Sources.
Mount Wilson Solar
Observatory.
Yerkes
Observatory.
Astronomers -- United States
--Archives.
Astronomical observatories --
California -- Wilson, Mount (Mountain)
Astronomical photography -- Equipment
and supplies.
Astronomy -- Photographs.
Astronomy -- Research.
Astronomy -- United States -- History
-- 20th century -- Sources.
Astrophysics -- History -- 20th century
-- Sources.
Ether (Space)
Galaxies.
Interferometers.
Light -- Speed.
Nebulae.
Stars.
Telescopes -- Design and construction
-- History -- Sources.
Jupiter (Planet) --
Observations.
Moon --
Observations.
Sun --
Observations.
Forms/Genres
Astronomical photography -- 19th
century.
Astronomical photography -- 20th
century.
Letters (correspondence) -- United
States -- 20th century.
Manuscripts -- United States -- 20th
century.
Photographs -- 19th century.
Photographs -- 20th century.
Reprints -- United States -- 19th
century.
Reprints -- United States -- 20th
century.
Research (document genres) -- United
States -- 19th century.
Research (document genres) -- United
States -- 20th century.
Space photography -- 19th century.
Space photography -- 20th century.
Additional Contributors
Abbot, C. G. (Charles Greeley),
1872-1973.
Abetti, Giorgio, 1882-1982.
Adams, Walter S. (Walter Sydney),
1876-1956.
Aitken, Robert Grant, 1864-1951.
Barnard, Edward Emerson, 1857-1923.
Brockett, Paul, 1872-1946.
Chamberlin, Thomas C. (Thomas
Chrowder), 1843-1928.
Crump, Clifford.
Day, Arthur L. (Arthur Louis),
1869-1960.
Douglass, A. E. (Andrew Ellicott),
1867-1962.
Hale, George Ellery, 1868-1938.
Hertzsprung, Ejnar, 1873-1967.
Jeans, James Hopwood, Sir, 1877-1946.
Kapteyn, J. C. (Jacobus Cornelius),
1851-1922.
Michelson, Albert A. (Albert
Abraham), 1852-1931.
Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953.
Moffitt, George Wilbur, 1887-.
Ross, Frank E. (Frank Elmore),
1874-1960.
Russell, Henry Norris, 1877-1957.
Shapley, Harlow, 1885-1972.
Vaurie, J.
Wilson, Latimer J.
Wright, F. E. (Frederick Eugene),
1877-1953.
Wright, William Hammond, 1871-1959.
American Society of Mechanical
Engineers.
Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Corning Glass Works.
Crucible Steel Company of America.
National Research Council (U.S.)
Scientific American, inc.
Southern California Edison Company.
Spencer Lens Company.