16
While all this was going on, the most powerful (25 GeV) particle accelerator of its day was being built in Switzerland, and birth control pills were being
put on sale, bringing about a sexual revolution that has given rise to sociological and cultural consequences that are still being played out today.
As time passed, when we began to have children, we managed to persuade
the authorities to let us live in the unused accommodation of the Observatory
Chief. It was in such a state of dilapidation that, not only rain and snow, but
even hailstones found their way through the cracks in the rickety windows.
But at last we had a house to live in with a certain degree of independence.
The electricity supply was a serious problem since the fragile cable from
Güímar would sever at the merest hint of a storm. In emergencies, a small
DKW generator was used for powering a number of light bulbs, whose filaments would glow a dim red, throbbing in unison with the two-cylinder motor.
The deposit would be filled with petrol in late afternoon, and the light would
hold out until the fuel was exhausted, usually about three hours later. By that
time, we had to have had supper and gone to bed. After that, it was candles and
torches only, so we acquired the knack of doing everything, including bottlefeeding the children and changing their nappies, with a torch tucked under our
arm to keep our hands free. Frontal torches had not yet been invented.
Fig. 2.2 The main building of the Izaña Meteorological Observatory, where the
author and his family lived during the years of astronomical site prospection. (Credit:
F. Sánchez)
F. Sánchez
While all this was going on, the most powerful (25 GeV) particle accelerator of its day was being built in Switzerland, and birth control pills were being
put on sale, bringing about a sexual revolution that has given rise to sociological and cultural consequences that are still being played out today.
As time passed, when we began to have children, we managed to persuade
the authorities to let us live in the unused accommodation of the Observatory
Chief. It was in such a state of dilapidation that, not only rain and snow, but
even hailstones found their way through the cracks in the rickety windows.
But at last we had a house to live in with a certain degree of independence.
The electricity supply was a serious problem since the fragile cable from
Güímar would sever at the merest hint of a storm. In emergencies, a small
DKW generator was used for powering a number of light bulbs, whose filaments would glow a dim red, throbbing in unison with the two-cylinder motor.
The deposit would be filled with petrol in late afternoon, and the light would
hold out until the fuel was exhausted, usually about three hours later. By that
time, we had to have had supper and gone to bed. After that, it was candles and
torches only, so we acquired the knack of doing everything, including bottlefeeding the children and changing their nappies, with a torch tucked under our
arm to keep our hands free. Frontal torches had not yet been invented.
Fig. 2.2 The main building of the Izaña Meteorological Observatory, where the
author and his family lived during the years of astronomical site prospection. (Credit:
F. Sánchez)
F. Sánchez