Guide to the Lick Observatory Records: Expeditions
UA.036.Ser.04
Alix Norton
University of California, Santa Cruz
2015
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz 95064
speccoll@library.ucsc.edu
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Lick Observatory Records: Expeditions
Creator:
Lick Observatory
Identifier/Call Number: UA.036.Ser.04
Physical Description:
6.6 Linear Feet
13 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1869-2001
Date (bulk): 1900-1930
Language of Material:
English .
Access
Collection is open for research.
Historical note
The Lick Observatory was completed in 1888 and continues to be an active astronomy research
facility at the summit of Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California. It is named after James
Lick (1796-1876), who left $700,000 in 1875 to purchase land and build a facility that would
be home to "a powerful telescope, superior to and more powerful than any telescope yet
made". The completion of the Great Lick Refractor in 1888 made the observatory home to the
largest refracting telescope in the world for 9 years, until the completion of the 40-inch
refractor at Yerkes Observatory in 1897. Since its founding in 1887, the Lick Observatory
facility has provided on-site housing on Mount Hamilton for researchers, their families, and
staff, making it the world's oldest residential observatory.
James Lick was born in Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania in 1796, and spent much of his life
building organs and pianos in Pennsylvania and Maryland, as well as in South America. In
1847, he moved to San Francisco, where he started purchasing large amounts of real estate
that made him a sizable fortune. Near the end of his life he began discussing ways to leave
a legacy in the form of a monument of some kind, and settled on the idea of building
something that would advance science, technology, and human knowledge. In 1874, Lick set up
the first of three trusts to devote $700,000 to the construction of the most powerful and
superior telescope in the world. Richard S. Floyd was the president of the board of trustees
of the successful third Lick Trust, and Thomas Fraser was the foreman and superintendent of
the entire construction project of the observatory. In August 1875, Lick selected Mount
Hamilton in Santa Clara County, California as the site for the observatory after consulting
with Fraser. One of the conditions of Mr. Lick's donation for the observatory was that the
County would construct a suitable road to the summit of Mount Hamilton, which the County
agreed to do. Lick passed away in 1876 before the completion of the observatory, and was
later buried at the base of the pier of the Great Lick Refractor.
As chairman of the board of Lick Trustees, Richard S. Floyd was entrusted with making sure
the observatory was the greatest of its time. Having no formal training in astronomy or in
the use of its instruments, Floyd recruited astronomers Simon Newcomb and E.S. Holden as
scientific advisors in planning the buildings and the astronomical equipment. They invited
astronomer S.W. Burnham, well known for his work on double stars, to conduct tests on the
atmospheric conditions on the mountain, and he found that the observing conditions were
among the most favorable he had experienced.
The main telescope that was initially built at Lick Observatory was the 36-inch equatorial
refractor, also known as the Great Lick Refractor, completed in 1888. Alvan Clark & Sons
shaped the objective lens, and Warner & Swasey constructed the telescope mounting. With
the completion of the Great Lick Refractor and the reconstruction of the Crossley 35-inch
reflecting telescope in 1895, the Observatory has been home to some of the world's most
powerful telescopes. Early research at the Observatory made important contributions to the
development of instruments for detecting, photographing, and taking measurements of
celestial objects. The Observatory continued to pioneer research in the astronomical
applications of spectroscopy and photography throughout the 20th century with the addition
of the Carnegie 20-inch double astrograph camera (1941) and the Shane 120-inch reflector
telescope (1959), which at the time of its construction was the second largest reflector
after the 200-inch at Palomar Observatory. As of 2015, Lick Observatory leads in extrasolar
and extragalactic research with the Katzmann Automatic Imaging Telescope (1998), which
searches for supernovae, and the Automatic Planet Finder (2013), which searches for planets
capable of sustaining life.
Some other examples of notable research conducted at the Lick Observatory throughout the
decades include the double star survey initiated in 1888 by S.W. Burnham and E.E. Barnard,
and continued by director R.G. Aitken and Hamilton Jeffers through the mid-twentieth
century, as well as work in radial velocity and spectroscopy started in 1896 by W.W.
Campbell, who later became director for almost 30 years. Campbell also oversaw the majority
of the Lick Observatory's solar eclipse expeditions through the early 20th century,
traveling to multiple locations in Asia, Africa, Australia, and North and South America to
study eclipses in their areas of totality.
The Observatory is currently operated by and headquartered at the University of California,
Santa Cruz, and is part of the University of California Observatories (UCO) system. The
Observatory was originally transferred to the Regents of the University of California by the
James Lick Trust in 1888, and was an independent campus of the UC system until 1958, when it
was made part of the University of California, Berkeley. On July 1, 1965, the administration
of Lick Observatory was officially transferred from UC Berkeley to UC Santa Cruz, and the
following year the astronomers relocated their offices and residences to Santa Cruz, along
with the astronomy shops, materials from the observatory's library, and historical documents
that made up the archives of the observatory. Mary Lea Shane served as the custodian of the
archives both on Mount Hamilton and at UC Santa Cruz, preserving and indexing the
correspondence, logs, business records, photographs, and research materials from the
observatory's history. In 1982, a ceremony was held at the library to name this collection
the Mary Lea Shane Archives of the Lick Observatory. These records are now available as the
Lick Observatory Records, collection UA 36, in the Special Collections and Archives
department of the UCSC McHenry Library.
For additional references with more information on the Lick Observatory and its history,
see the Bibliography section of this finding aid.
Preferred Citation
Lick Observatory Records: Expeditions. UA 36 Ser.4. Special Collections and Archives,
University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Finding aid revision statement
This finding aid was revised in the Reparative Archival Redescription Project in 2021-2022.
Previous versions of this finding aid are available upon request.
Related Materials
Related materials can be found in the following series of the Lick Observatory Records and
separate collections:
Scope and Contents
This series contains records relating to the eclipse expeditions of Lick Observatory staff,
as well as the D.O. Mills Expedition to establish and operate a southern-sky observatory in
Chile. Materials include correspondence, planning and financial documents, maps, reports,
news clippings and press releases, and some photographs.
Publication Rights
Copyright for the items in this collection is owned by the creators and their heirs.
Reproduction or distribution of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair
use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to
determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. For more
information see UCSC Special Collections and Archives policy on Reproduction and Use.
Bibliography
Consult the following resources for more information about Lick Observatory:
-
Handbook of the Lick Observatory of the University of California. San
Francisco: Bancroft, 1888.
- Holden, Edward S.
A Brief Account of the Lick Observatory of the University
of California.
Sacramento: State printing Office, 1895.
-
The Lick Observatory Collections Project: Building the Observatory.
http://collections.ucolick.org/archives_on_line/bldg_the_obs.html
-
The Lick Observatory Collections Project: The Life of James Lick.
http://collections.ucolick.org/archives_on_line/James_Lick.html
- Lick, Rosemary.
The Generous Miser: The Story of James Lick of
California.
Los Angeles: Ward Ritchie Press, 1967.
- Mathews, Henry E.
The James Lick Trust. San Francisco, 1918.
- Neubauer, F.J. "A Short History of the Lick Observatory."
Popular
Astronomy
58.5 (1950): 201.
- Osterbrock, Donald E, John R. Gustafson, and W J. S. Unruh.
Eye on the Sky:
Lick Observatory's First Century.
Berkeley: University of California Press,
1988.
- Shane, Mary L. H, and Elizabeth S. Calciano.
The Lick Observatory.
Glen Rock, N.J: Microfilming Corp. of America, 1974.
- Wright, Helen.
James Lick's Monument: The Saga of Captain Richard Floyd and
the Building of the Lick Observatory.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1987.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Scientific expeditions
Eclipses
Astronomy
Lick Observatory
Eclipses
1869-2001
Scope and Content
These materials mostly contain planning documents, administrative materials from the
expeditions, and some research materials from the solar eclipses. A large amount of
correspondence is included, mostly from W.W. Campbell, as well as reports, financial
documents, orders, inventories, maps, and some photographs.
History
The solar eclipse program at the Lick Observatory was spearheaded by William Wallace
Campbell in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and made the Lick Observatory well
known in the field of astronomy. Campbell led many of the eclipse expeditions himself,
traveling the world, and several were funded by either Charles F. Crocker or his
brother, William H. Crocker.
The following eclipse expeditions were taken by Lick staff as part of the solar eclipse
program:
- Bartlett Springs/Cloverdale, California, USA: January 1, 1889
- Cayenne, French Guiana, South America: December 21-22, 1889
- Mina Bronces, Chile: April 16, 1893
- Akashi, Japan: August 8, 1896
- Jeur, India: January 22, 1898
- Thomaston, Georgia, USA: May 28, 1900
- Padang, Sumatra: May 18, 1901
- Labrador, Canada: August 30, 1905
- Aswan, Egypt: August 30, 1905
- Alhama de Aragon, Spain: August 30, 1905
- Flint Island, South Pacific: January 3, 1908
- Brovary, Russia (now Ukraine): August 21, 1914
- Goldendale, Washington, USA: June 8, 1918
- Wallal, Australia: September 21, 1922
- Ensenada, Mexico: September 10, 1923
- Bangkok, Siam (now Thailand): May 9, 1929
- Camptonville, California, USA: April 28, 1930
- Fryeburg, Maine, USA: August 31, 1932
Arrangement
The materials in this section are arranged chronologically by eclipse date, with each
eclipse expedition having its own file. Other eclipse files are arranged at the end of
this section, again chronologically.
Box 1, Folder 1
Eclipse of January 1, 1889: Bartlett Springs, California
History
Lick director Edward S. Holden organized this eclipse expedition and sent a team of
astronomers to Bartlett Springs, California, with James Keeler leading the group. Also
part of the Lick team were E.E. Barnard, Charles B. Hill, and Armin O. Leuschner. The
wide interest garnered from this eclipse and the proximity of the area of totality to
the Lick Observatory was an impetus for director Edward S. Holden to establish the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific in February 1889. During this eclipse, E.E.
Barnard secured the clearest photograph of any solar eclipse to date.
Box 1, Folder 2
Eclipse of December 21, 1889: Cayenne, French Guiana
History
S.W. Burnham and John M. Schaeberle led this expedition to French Guiana, which was
funded by Charles F. Crocker, a prominent banker and member of the University of
California Board of Regents.
Eclipse of April 16, 1893: Mina Bronces, Chile
History
John M. Schaeberle went on this expedition alone to Chile, which was funded by Phoebe
A. Hearst, and enlisted the help of local Chileans and British naval officers to
assist with the equipment.
Box 1, Folder 4
Report by J.M. Schaeberle
1895
Eclipse of August 8, 1896: Akashi, Japan
History
John M. Schaeberle went on this expedition, which was funded by Charles F. Crocker.
No results were gathered due to completely cloudy skies on the day of the eclipse.
Box 1, Folder 5
Correspondence
1894-1896
Scope and Contents note
Also includes calling cards, reports, and some photographs.
Box 13, Folder 1
Illustration
undated
Scope and Contents note
Hand-painted illustration of landscape and eclipse equipment at viewing site.
Eclipse of January 22, 1898: Jeur, India
History
William Wallace Campbell led this expedition to Jeur, India, where he observed his
first eclipse. He and his wife, Elizabeth Ballard Campbell, traveled westward by ship
to India and enlisted volunteers to help with the instruments when they arrived. After
the eclipse, the Campbells kept traveling west and completed a trip around the
world.
Box 1, Folder 6
Correspondence
1897-1898
Scope and Contents note
Also includes equipment insurance policies and contents lists.
Box 1, Folder 7
Report by W.W. Campbell
1898
Scope and Contents note
Article in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
Box 1, Folder 8
Eclipse of May 28, 1900: Thomaston, Georgia
History
Director James Keeler raised money from William H. Crocker to fund this expedition,
which was led by Campbell along with Lick secretary/astronomer Charles D. Perrine and
volunteer Heber D. Curtis.
Eclipse of May 18, 1901: Sumatra
History
Director Campbell did not go on this expedition, and sent Perrine in his place. The
expedition was funded by W.H. Crocker.
Box 1, Folder 9
Correspondence
1901
Scope and Contents note
Also includes insurance policies and bulletins.
Box 7, Folder 1
Report by C.D. Perrine
1901
Scope and Contents note
Lick Observatory Bulletin no. 9.
Eclipse of August 30, 1905
History
Three separate expeditions from Lick Observatory were made for the August 30, 1905
eclipse, all funded by W.H. Crocker. Campbell was in charge of all the expeditions and
personally traveled to Spain with Perrine and Elizabeth Ballard Campbell. H.D. Curtis
and Joel Stebbins went to Labrador in Canada, and William J. Hussey went on the
expedition to an island in the Nile river near Aswan, Egypt. None of the astronomers
gathered sufficient data at any of the three expeditions due to relatively poor
conditions.
Box 1, Folder 13
Research notebook
1905
Scope and Contents note
Logbook of notes and calculations from eclipse site at Cartwright, Labrador,
Canada.
Box 2, Folder 1-2
Expenses
1905-1906
Scope and Contents note
Includes list of estimated expenses and expense reports.
Box 2, Folder 4
Bills and receipts
1905-1906
Box 2, Folder 5
Clippings and press releases
1905-1907
Box 2, Folder 11
Publications
1904-1907
Scope and Contents note
Includes reports by W.W. Campbell.
Box 2, Folder 12
Report by C.D. Perrine
1907
Scope and Contents note
"Results of the Search for an Intramerenrial Planet at the Eclipse of August 30,
1905", holograph pages
Eclipse of January 3, 1908: Flint Island
History
Campbell led this expedition to Flint Island in the Pacific Ocean, and was
accompanied by Elizabeth Ballard Campbell, C.D. Perrine, Robert G. Aitken, Sebastian
Albrecht, and E.P. Lewis. The expedition was funded by W.H. Crocker.
Box 2, Folder 13
Bills and receipts
1907-1908
Box 2, Folder 14
Correspondence
1908
Scope and Contents note
Also includes manuscripts of reports and clippings.
Box 7, Folder 3
Diary of Robert G. Aitken
1907-1908
Box 2, Folder 16
Report by F.K. McClean
1908
Eclipse of August 21, 1914: Brovary, Russia (Ukraine)
History
Campbell led this expedition and brought his family with him, along with H.D. Curtis
to assist with the observation of the eclipse. W.H. Crocker funded the expedition.
Weather conditions were unfavorable on the day of the eclipse and no observations were
able to be made. World War I began while the team was in Russia, and they were able to
travel safely back to America through Scandinavia. The telescopes and other equipment
had to be left behind in Russia and were not returned for another few years.
Box 7, Folder 4
Campbell family visas
1914
Box 3, Folder 1-2
Clippings and press releases
1914
Scope and Contents note
Includes account by Elizabeth Ballard Campbell published in San Francisco
Chronicle.
Box 3, Folder 3-6
Correspondence
1913-1918
Scope and Contents note
Includes W.W. Campbell's letters of preparation as well as correspondence regarding
the return of equipment from Russia in 1918 before the Goldendale expedition.
Box 3, Folder 7
Report by W.W. Campbell and H.D. Curtis
1914
Eclipse of June 8, 1918: Goldendale, Washington
History
Campbell led this expedition to Goldendale, Washington, where he planned to measure
the gravitational deflection of light from stars around the sun, which would test
Einstein's newly published theory of relativity. Present at the eclipse were H.D.
Curtis; Ambrose Swasey, whose company built the 36" Lick refractor; John Brashear, who
built much of the Lick equipment; foreman John Hoover; and W.H. Crocker, who funded
this and many other eclipse expeditions.
Box 3, Folder 10-11
Correspondence
1916-1918
Scope and Contents note
Includes W.W. Campbell's letters of preparation.
Box 3, Folder 12, Box 7, Folder 5
Reports by W.W. Campbell and J.H. Moore
1918-1919
Eclipse of September 21, 1922: Wallal, Australia
History
Campbell led this expedition to Australia with Robert J. Trumpler, who took
comparison star field plates in Tahiti before the eclipse, and J.H. Moore, along with
Elizabeth Ballard Campbell. It was during this eclipse that Campbell and Trumpler were
able to successfully measure the gravitational deflection of light from stars near the
sun, supporting Einstein's theory of relativity.
Box 3, Folder 13, Box 7, Folder 6-8
Clippings
1922
Scope and Contents note
Includes news clippings, scrapbook, and some photographs.
Box 4, Folder 1-6, Box 3, Folder 14-17
Correspondence
1919-1937
Scope and Contents note
Includes letter from secretary of Albert Einstein.
Box 4, Folder 7
Expenses
1920-1923
Scope and Contents note
Includes bills, receipts, and expense reports.
Box 4, Folder 8
Proposed program of eclipse expedition
1922
Scope and Contents note
Includes Campbell's plans for the schedule and program of the Wallal
expedition.
Box 4, Folder 9
Reports by W.W. Campbell
1922
Box 4, Folder 10
Shipment lists, reports, and notes
1922
Eclipse of September 10, 1923: Ensenada, Mexico
History
Director Campbell put William H. Wright in charge of the expedition to Ensenada,
Mexico, and decided soon before the eclipse to travel to Ensenada as well. Also in
attendance were J.H. Moore, Robert Trumpler, Hamilton Jeffers, and the Campbell
family. Cloudy and stormy conditions on the day of the eclipse prevented the
astronomers from gathering any useful data.
Box 5, Folder 1-6
Correspondence
1919-1924
Container Summary: 6
folders
Scope and Contents note
Also includes reports and some financial documents.
Box 6, Folder 1
Statements and vouchers
1923
Box 6, Folder 2
Weather observations
1921-1922
Box 7, Folder 9
Eclipse of May 9, 1929: Bangkok, Siam (Thailand)
Scope and Contents note
Includes reports, charts, maps, weather information, and some loose photographs.
Box 6, Folder 3
Eclipse of April 28, 1930: Camptonville, California
Scope and Contents note
Includes correspondence and planning documents.
History
Director Robert G. Aitken sent a team including J.H. Moore, C. Donald Shane, and
Donald H. Menzel to observe the solar eclipse in Camptonville, California.
Eclipse of August 31, 1932: Fryeburg, Maine
History
William H. Wright, J.H. Moore, C. Donald Shane, and Donald H. Menzel were part of
this eclipse expedition to Fryeburg, Maine.
Box 7, Folder 10
Diary of J.F. Chappell
1932-1945
Scope and Content
Includes notes on the 1932 Fryeburg eclipse as well as a 1945 solar eclipse.
Other eclipses
1869-2001
Scope and Contents note
Includes general files on eclipse viewing as well as files on specific eclipses
before 1888 that were not part of Lick expeditions.
Box 6, Folder 9-13
General files
1907-2001
Scope and Contents note
These materials include lists of eclipses; a postcard showing the partial eclipse
of June 17, 1909; instructions for making observations of eclipses by Edward S.
Holden; a 1979 publication on the Lick Observatory solar eclipse expeditions by
Donald Osterbrock; and general correspondence regarding the Lick eclipse
expeditions.
Box 6, Folder 14
Eclipse of August 8, 1869: Springfield, Illinois
Scope and Contents note
Includes maps of area of totality.
Box 6, Folder 15
Eclipse of December 22, 1870: Jerez, Spain
Scope and Contents note
Includes sketches of solar eclipse.
Box 7, Folder 11
Eclipse of May 6, 1883
Scope and Contents note
Includes handwritten account of the eclipse, most likely from a French
expedition.
D.O. Mills Expedition
1874-1980
Arrangement
The materials in this section are arranged alphabetically by subject, then
chronologically.
Scope and Content
These materials cover the D.O. Mills Expedition to Santiago, Chile in the early 20th
century. They include correspondence between W.W. Campbell and his colleagues, expense
reports and other financial information, reports on the history and the progress of the
project, and research materials from the observatory site in Chile.
History
At the beginning of his directorship at Lick Observatory, W.W. Campbell decided to
establish a temporary observatory in the southern hemisphere in order to gain a more
complete view of the sky in the Lick astronomers' research. In 1903, he organized an
expedition to Chile which was funded by Darius Ogden Mills, a wealthy member of the
first Lick Trust. Campbell sent his assistant William H. Wright and Harold K. Palmer to
find a suitable site for the observatory, and they selected Cerro San Cristobal, a small
hill near Santiago, Chile. Wright and Palmer had the dome constructed and the reflector
telescope and spectrograph set up within a few months, and started taking spectrograms
at the end of 1903. Lick staff were involved in conducting research at this observatory
until 1929, when the program for which the observatory was built concluded, and the
observatory and equipment were sold to the Catholic University of Chile.
Correspondence
1874-1929
Scope and Contents note
Correspondents include W.W. Campbell, W.H. Wright, H.D. Curtis, H.K. Palmer, J.H.
Moore, W.L. Stevens, G.F. Paddock, R.G. Aitken, R.E. Wilson, R.H. Tucker, C.M. Huffer,
A.A. Scott, F.J. Neubauer, J.A.V. Damen Sterck, H. Popp, G.E. Vincent, and Max
Mason.
Box 8, Folder 2-3
D.O. Mills
1874-1912
Scope and Contents note
Contains correspondence of D.O. Mills with Lick Observatory staff and directors
including E.S. Holden, James Keeler, and W.W. Campbell.
Box 8, Folder 5-7
General correspondence
1903-1905
Box 9, Folder 1-6
General correspondence
1906-1911
Box 10, Folder 1-8
General correspondence
1912-1919
Box 11, Folder 1-4
General correspondence
1920-1929
Box 11, Folder 5
Diaries
1903, 1928-1929
Scope and Content
Includes a 1903 diary of telescope operations and tests in San Diego, and F.J.
Neubauer's diary of expenses and notes at the Chile station from 1928-1929.
Box 12, Folder 1-5, Box 11, Folder 6
Expenses
1906-1928
Scope and Contents note
Includes vouchers, receipts, and correspondence regarding expenses.
Box 12, Folder 6
History
circa 1894-1980
Scope and Contents note
Includes report by W.W. Campbell, Chilean magazine with article on the Mills
telescope, research correspondence, and other reports and notes.
Box 12, Folder 7-8
Reports
1905-1909
Scope and Contents note
Includes reports of the expedition by W.W. Campbell and W.H. Wright, as well as a
site survey report of Copiapo with maps and photographs.
Box 12, Folder 9-11
Research
1913-1923
Scope and Contents note
Includes R.E. Wilson's research on southern nebulae, corrected data from plates, and
measurement logs.
Box 12, Folder 12-13
Albert Einstein correspondence and related publications
1913-1958
Language of Material: Letters are in English and in
German, with some English translations.
Scope and Content
These materials contain publications written on Einstein's theory of relativity, as
well as correspondence among Lick staff regarding the results of the eclipse expeditions
at which the theory was tested. Included is a handwritten letter from Albert Einstein to
W.W. Campbell responding to Trumpler's article refuting Freundlich's claims made at the
Potsdam Observatory, and thanking the Lick staff. Other correspondents include Elsa
Einstein (wife of Albert), Elizabeth Ballard Campbell, R.G. Aitken, and Robert Sproul.
Text from the speeches given by Campbell and Einstein at the 1931 dinner in Einstein's
honor at the California Institute of Technology are also included. The publications on
relativity are by Sir Edmund Whittaker, Leopold Infeld, and Oliver Lodge.
History
Albert Einstein's work in physics had a significant role in the eclipse expeditions of
the early 20th century that W.W. Campbell oversaw. Einstein had published his special
theory of relativity in 1905, and the general theory of relativity 10 years later, and
subsequently predicted that the gravitation of a large mass (e.g. the sun) would bend
light rays passing near it. He suggested that a way to measure this prediction would be
to observe the positions of stars near the sun during an eclipse, when the sky is
relatively dark, and compare these measurements to the positions of the same stars later
in the night sky, when the sun is gone from the local field.
During the Lick expedition to Wallal, Australia, for the September 21, 1922 eclipse,
Campbell and astronomer Robert Trumpler were able to gather enough data and conduct the
measurements that strongly supported Einstein's predictions and hence the theory of
relativity. After this result was announced, most scientists around the world regarded
it as convincing evidence, except for T.J.J. See, an astronomer who disagreed with
Einstein's theory and predictions. In response, Trumpler published an article in the
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific which refuted each claim made by
See. Later, after the eclipse of 1929, when astronomer E. Finlay Freundlich released
measurements which called into question the prediction of light deflection, Trumpler
again responded in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific disproving
these claims and supporting Einstein's theory of relativity. Einstein personally wrote a
letter in February 1932 to Trumpler and Campbell thanking them for their support and
work, and discussing the scientific merit of the claims.