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INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in ttiis copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA UIVQ 800-521-0600 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE AN ASTRONOMER BEYOND THE OBSERVATORY: HARLOW SHAPLEY AS PROPHET OF SCIENCE A Dissertation SUBMriTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By JOANN PALMERI Norman, Oklahoma 2000 UMI Number 9952415 Copyright 2000 by Palmeri, JoAnn All rights reserved. UMI' UMI Microform9952415 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 c Copyright by JOANN PALMERI 2000 All Rights Reserved. AN ASTRONOMER BEYOND THE OBSERVATORY: HARLOW SHAPLEY AS PROPHET OF SCIENCE A Dissertation APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE BY T<Uj CONTENTS CONTENTS.........................................................................................................................iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................................................. v INTRODUCTION THE ASTRONOMER AS PROPHET OF SCIENCE.................. I CHAPTER 1 SHAPLEY’S EARLY YEARS: THE ASTRONOMER AS INTERDISCIPLINARY INSTIGATOR............................. 27 CHAPTER 2 SHAPLEY AS “GREAT COMMUNICATOR”: FOUNDATIONS FOR A VISION OF SCIENCE AND VIEW OF HUMANITY IN THE COSMOS....................60 CHAPTER 3 IN THE CAUSE OF “CIVILIZATION DEFENSE”: PROMOTING SCIENCE ON DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL FRONTS.....................86 CHAPTER 4 ON COSMIC FACTS AND HUMAN DESTINIES : THE SCIENCE OF COSMOGRAPHY....................................140 CHAPTER 5 RELIGION IN AN AGE OF SCIENCE: COSMIC EVOLUTION AND THE FOUNDATIONS FOR RATIONAL RELIGION.................... 176 CHAPTER 6 RETIREMENT AS RENAISSANCE: SHAPLEY AS FULL-TIME PROPHET.................................. 218 CONCLUSION AN ASTRONOMER BEYOND THE OBSERVATORY .... 254 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................. 258 IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many individuals have contributed to making my years of graduate study a rewarding experience. I would like to thank Gregg Mitman, my dissertation committee co-chair, for the encouragement, support and advice he provided during the research and writing stages of this project. His classes and seminars on American science helped to shape my treatment of astronomy in the twentieth century. I would like to express my appreciation to co-chair Kenneth Taylor for his assistance with this project and his continuing support and encouragement during my years of graduate study. In addition, I am grateful to committee members Tibor Herczeg, Mary Jo Nye, Katherine Pandora and Jamil Ragep for their helpful suggestions and their continuing intellectual inspiration. My work has also benefitted from the intellectual guidance and stimulating environment fostered within the community of students, faculty and visiting scholars at the University of Oklahoma. I had the privilege of being introduced to the history of science at this unique place. A special word of appreciation goes to the late Duane Roller as well as to Thomas Smith. Both professors played an important role in my introduction to the study of the history of science. In addition to these individuals, I would also express my appreciation to Robert Nye, Steven Livesey, Peter Barker, Pamela Gossin, and Clebbie Riddle. I would also like to express my appreciation to Marilyn Ogilvie and Marcia Goodman for their part in making the History Science Collections an exceptional place to study and conduct research. During my years of graduate study I have been fortunate to have crossed paths with many scholars. In particular, I would like to express my appreciation to many of the continuing participants of the Notre Dame history of astronomy meetings. Specifically, I would like to acknowledge John Lankford and Michael Crowe for their encouragement and useful advice. On this project in particular, I would like to thank Owen Gingerich and Peggy Kidwell for the generosity they extended to me during my visits to Cambridge and to Washington. This research was funded in part by a National Science Foundation grant and a grant from the American Institute of Physics. I would like to thank Clark Elliot and the staff of the Harvard University Archives, as well as Spencer Weart and the staff of the Center for the History of Physics for the assistance they provided during my research trips. 1 would also like to express my appreciation to personnel at the Rockefeller Archives Center, Princeton libraries, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York. My years of study at the University were enriched by my fellow students. In particular I would like to thank Maureen McCormick and Hyesik Choi for their help during the final stages of my dissertation project. An enormous debt goes to my husband, Terry, who continues to be a source of intellectual and emotional support. This work is dedicated to my parents, Joseph and Angie Palmeri, who have supplied unconditional support and encouragement for my endeavors. VI INTRODUCTION THE ASTRONOMER AS PROPHET OF SCIENCE In 1918 American astronomer Harlow Shapley (1885-1972) presented to the astronomical community his discovery of the eccentric location of the sun within the Milky Way galaxy. This was a key event in establishing the scientific reputation of the young Mount Wilson Observatory astronomer and an important foundation for the newly developing cosmological worldview of the twentieth century. Coupled with Einstein’s new cosmology and Hubble’s work on the expanding universe, Shapley’s work on galactic dimensions ushered in a dramatic conceptual shift in thinking about the nature of the universe and mankind’s place within it.' These achievements led to the decline of the anthropocentric perspective prominent at the turn of the century, a shift away from the belief in humanity’s centrality in the universe." Shapley’s work in particular established what would become a standard astronomical image for the twentieth century-the earth as a minor planet, orbiting an unremarkable star, located in an undistinguished part of a galaxy populated by countless stars.^ ' For an enlightening historical treatment and perspective on the theme of anthropocentrism see Steven J. Dick, The Biological Universe: The Twentieth-Century Extraterrestrial Life Debate and the Limits of Science (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996). ^ This decline was reversed somewhat at the end of the century. Dick points to the reemergence of anthropocentrism in the context of cosmology and considerations of the anthropic principle. ^ “Of all the scientific accomplishments since Renaissance times, one discovery stands out most boldly: Our planet is neither central nor special. Application of the scientific method has demonstrated that, as living creatures, we inhabit no unique place in the Universe at all. Research, especially within the past few decades, strongly suggests that we live on what appears to be an ordinary rock called the Earth, one planet circulating an average star called the Sun, one star in the suburbs of a much larger assemblage called the Milky Way Galaxy, one galaxy among countless billions of others distributed throughout the observable While in retrospect Shapley considered the discovery of the eccentric location of the sun as his most important achievement, he attached only slightly less importance to Of Stars and Men: The Human Response to An Expanding Universe, the 1958 book within which he offered an account of the cosmic facts and their significance for humanity, drawing upon his own work as well as other developments of twentieth- century science. The former achievement came at the beginning of Shapley’s career, and was one of the key astronomical developments that contributed to the decline of anthropocentrism. The latter achievement followed Shapley’s retirement from his three- decade tenure as Director of the Harvard College Observatory and was a work characterized by its author as “an essay on orientation, including a tentative obituary,

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