55
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
F. Sánchez, The Rise of Astrophysics in Modern Spain, Astronomers’ Universe,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66426-8_7
7
Astrophysics Versus Astronomy
(1961–1972)
In retrospect, the powerful resurgence of research in Spain in the last third of
the twentieth century—from zero in some disciplines—is astounding. The
decadence of science in our country has its origins in the distant past. It is not
my intention here to delve into the causes, which are very well known. What
was most lamentable is that we ourselves had begun to believe that we were
fundamentally incapable of doing scientific research. We had become content
to see ourselves as a nation of artists and writers, a notion borne out by
Fernando VII’s decision to rededicate the Villanueva building built by Carlos
III to further the cause of advancement in the sciences (‘Laboratory of Natural
Sciences’) as an art museum. It is now the Prado Museum. An example already
mentioned is Unamuno’s famous dictum, ‘Let others invent’.
The renaissance of science that occurred in Spain at the beginning of the
twentieth century was engulfed in the chasm that was the fratricidal Civil War
of 1936 and its aftermath. Some astronomers, for example Pedro Carrasco of
the Madrid Observatory, had begun to move towards astrophysics, but exile
had extinguished the occasional flame. By the middle of the last century the
panorama was bleak. The enforced isolation of the country caused most of the
sciences to descend into a state of decay. The great technical advances brought
about by the Second World War did not reach Spain. Spanish astronomy had
not evolved to incorporate astrophysics and remained where it was at the start
of the twentieth century. I remember the sad case of Arturo Duperier and the
day of his death at the beginning of 1959, which was declared a day of mourning by my faculty, at which he had held a professorial chair. At the time I was
accompanying a fellow student to Navacerrada, where I skied for the first time
in my life. During his exile in England, Professor Duperier became an
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
F. Sánchez, The Rise of Astrophysics in Modern Spain, Astronomers’ Universe,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66426-8_7
7
Astrophysics Versus Astronomy
(1961–1972)
In retrospect, the powerful resurgence of research in Spain in the last third of
the twentieth century—from zero in some disciplines—is astounding. The
decadence of science in our country has its origins in the distant past. It is not
my intention here to delve into the causes, which are very well known. What
was most lamentable is that we ourselves had begun to believe that we were
fundamentally incapable of doing scientific research. We had become content
to see ourselves as a nation of artists and writers, a notion borne out by
Fernando VII’s decision to rededicate the Villanueva building built by Carlos
III to further the cause of advancement in the sciences (‘Laboratory of Natural
Sciences’) as an art museum. It is now the Prado Museum. An example already
mentioned is Unamuno’s famous dictum, ‘Let others invent’.
The renaissance of science that occurred in Spain at the beginning of the
twentieth century was engulfed in the chasm that was the fratricidal Civil War
of 1936 and its aftermath. Some astronomers, for example Pedro Carrasco of
the Madrid Observatory, had begun to move towards astrophysics, but exile
had extinguished the occasional flame. By the middle of the last century the
panorama was bleak. The enforced isolation of the country caused most of the
sciences to descend into a state of decay. The great technical advances brought
about by the Second World War did not reach Spain. Spanish astronomy had
not evolved to incorporate astrophysics and remained where it was at the start
of the twentieth century. I remember the sad case of Arturo Duperier and the
day of his death at the beginning of 1959, which was declared a day of mourning by my faculty, at which he had held a professorial chair. At the time I was
accompanying a fellow student to Navacerrada, where I skied for the first time
in my life. During his exile in England, Professor Duperier became an