Wonders of the Heavens: Cambridge Observatory

Astronomer, physicist and mathematician Sir Arthur Eddington and colleagues at the Cambridge Observatory

Exterior view over the Cambridge Observatory site showing the domed buildings. Indoors, Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington sits at a desk working on papers, and turns to the camera, smiling. He holds his pet dog, a black Aberdeen terrier, on his lap and strokes it affectionately. Outside in the grounds of the Observatory, Professor Eddington walks with a lady among trees and flower beds. They approach the Observatory building. The Professor turns a handle attached to a wheel and pulley mechanism which moves the external casing of the telescope, which resembles a little house with chimney and windows. Dr Smart walks past the front of the main building and stands in the doorway to smile for the camera. Inside the observatory, a man operates a giant telescope. He looks through an eyepiece and makes adjustments using two hanging rods. The clock mechanism which controls the rotation of the telescope is shown, with rotating weights and cogs. At night time, a man operates telescope. Shots of the craters of the Moon, a star field in Orion, The Milky Way, a comet and a spiral nebula, perhaps captured from lantern slides. In the lower part of some images appears the print of a newspaper, perhaps used to mask the frames. Following a still shot of the solar eclipse of 1919, the film maker included shortened scenes from a British Movietone film showing scientists observing the eclipse in Maine, USA (omitted from this viewing copy). In the final sequence, Dr Wood moves a model containing a series of connected rods to demonstrate how light travels in waves. He stills the mechanism between demonstrations of various wave patterns.

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Solar eclipse of 29 May, 1919

Intertitles

WONDERS OF THE HEAVENS CAMBRIDGE OBSERVATORY SIR ARTHUR STANLEY EDDINGTON HE LOVES HIS JET BLACK ABERDEEN THE LITTLE HOUSE GOES HOME DR SMART’S SUNNY SMILE A GIANT TELESCOPE THE CLOCK CONTROLS THE ROTATION OF THE TELESCOPE AT DEAD OF NIGHT CRATERS OF THE MOON A STAR FIELD IN ORION THE MILKY WAY A COMET A WANDERER IN THE UNIVERSE A SPIRAL NEBULAE A WHIRLING MASS OF LUMINOUS GAS ECLIPSE OF THE SUN 1919 ECLIPSE OF SUN PUT AMERICA IN SHADE – Scientists gather in path of moon’s shadow over Maine to observe and study phenomenon – British Movietone LIGHT LIKE SOUND, TRAVELS IN WAVES – DR WOOD ILLUSTRATES

Background Information

Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington O.M., F.R.S. (1882-1944) was the Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge from 1913 to 1944. He became famous for providing evidence for General Relativity in 1919 on an eclipse expedition. He was also a great popularizer of relativity through popular books and lectures. He was Director of the Cambridge Observatory from 1914 to 1944 and is remembered by astronomers for his mass luminosity law for stars. A complex figure, with sometimes unorthodox ideas, Eddington was a figure who contributed to many areas of public debate outside of his own specialist field. Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge An obituary notice for Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington was published by W.M. Smart in The Observatory, Volume 66, 1945 In the scene where Eddington is shown walking in the garden, the woman who accompanies him could be his sister Miss Winifred Eddington.