218
10 Statistics and Other Concerns
Fig. 10.8 Albertus Antonie Nijland (1868–1936). This picture comes from the Album
Amicorum, presented to H.G. van de Sande Bakhuyzen on the occasion of his retirement
as professor of astronomy and director of the Sterrewacht Leiden in 1908 [47]
an extremely generous offer. The Faculty only inquired what the conditions
would be to persuade Kapteyn to accept an appointment in Leiden. Leiden and
the Sterrewacht were closer to his heart than Utrecht and it must have been
an attractive offer, which Kapteyn nevertheless rejected again. Undoubtedly
a role in this was played in this decision that he had just accepted George
Hale’s offer to come to Mount Wilson every year and the appointment by the
Carnegie Institution. He was to travel to California for the first time that year
and implement his Plan of Selected Aries that would be launched under his
coordination with the new 60 in. telescope. Not a good time to take charge of
an observatory.
It would not have been an easy job either. Leiden no longer had the prominent position it once had. The Sterrewacht did not participate in the Carte du
Ciel (although there was now a photographic telescope). Astronomy had also
changed worldwide. From determining the positions of objects in the sky as
precisely as possible, astronomy had become more and more concerned with
the physical properties and understanding of the cosmos. This development
occurred in the first place in the United States, partly because of the construction of many new large telescopes. In Europe a lot of energy was spent on
10 Statistics and Other Concerns
Fig. 10.8 Albertus Antonie Nijland (1868–1936). This picture comes from the Album
Amicorum, presented to H.G. van de Sande Bakhuyzen on the occasion of his retirement
as professor of astronomy and director of the Sterrewacht Leiden in 1908 [47]
an extremely generous offer. The Faculty only inquired what the conditions
would be to persuade Kapteyn to accept an appointment in Leiden. Leiden and
the Sterrewacht were closer to his heart than Utrecht and it must have been
an attractive offer, which Kapteyn nevertheless rejected again. Undoubtedly
a role in this was played in this decision that he had just accepted George
Hale’s offer to come to Mount Wilson every year and the appointment by the
Carnegie Institution. He was to travel to California for the first time that year
and implement his Plan of Selected Aries that would be launched under his
coordination with the new 60 in. telescope. Not a good time to take charge of
an observatory.
It would not have been an easy job either. Leiden no longer had the prominent position it once had. The Sterrewacht did not participate in the Carte du
Ciel (although there was now a photographic telescope). Astronomy had also
changed worldwide. From determining the positions of objects in the sky as
precisely as possible, astronomy had become more and more concerned with
the physical properties and understanding of the cosmos. This development
occurred in the first place in the United States, partly because of the construction of many new large telescopes. In Europe a lot of energy was spent on