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11 The Kapteyn Universe
Fig. 11.1 George Ellery Hale, painted by Seymour Thomas in 1929. This portrait hangs in
the library of the Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena. Courtesy the Observatories of the
Carnegie Institution for Science Collection, Huntington Library, San Marino, California
[102]
George Hale (Fig. 11.1) answered on June 6 and was very outspoken. I quote
part of that letter.
From what you say, to my great concern, about giving up your position as
Research Associate of the Carnegie Institution, I am afraid I may have given
you a false impression of the duties of Research Associates. It would be extremely
desirable from the standpoint of the Observatory and the Carnegie Institution,
for you to retain the position even if you never returned to Mount Wilson and
never did a single piece of work for us. In other words, the purpose of the grant
is to facilitate your own investigations, and not to secure any direct return to the
Institution. This is done in the case of many other men, such as professor A.A.
Noyes of Boston, and various others I could name if I had the Year Book here.
So don’t think of resigning under any circumstances. We want your close interest
and counsel, but you need not do any work for us unless you have plenty of time
for it.