Amherst College - Olio Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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VOLUME LV, 1912 5 island east of Sumatra, in the Java Sea. The Sultan of Lingga, and the Dutch government rendered the expedition every assistance. Many native sultans of the Malay states were met at Singapore, on the peninsula, and in Siam. The expedition returned by way of the Philippines, had an interview with the Sultan of Sulu, and received many courtesies from the Governor, military officers, and American oflicials. In 1902, Professor Todd started the navigation course at Amherst, for instruction in such parts of the science as depend upon astronomy and can be advantageously taught without actual experience at sea. The corner stone of the new observatory was laid in 19035 and two years later the fine 18-inch equatorial telescope was installed. Here observations have been made of eclipses of sun and moon, double stars, satellites, variables, a transit of Mercury, Mars, and Halley's Comet, many classes have been instructed, and many visiting astronomers from other observatories and countries have been entertained. Another eclipse of the sun was studied again from Tripoli in 1905, where both Turks and Arabs, including the Pasha, greeted Professor Todd as an old friend, giving him much valuable assistance, and where, as before, he established his observing place on the terrace of the British Consulate General. Two years later, in 1907, Professor Todd had charge of the Mars expedition to the Andes. The big new telescope was transported to Iquique in Chile, and thence to the elevated pampa lying between the Andes and the Pacific, where for three months its first large and impor- tant work proceeded, in photographing Mars through the clear and steady air of the desert of Tarapaca. Over 12,000 photographs were taken, and much new material was collected for further study of this greatly discussed planet. In August, 1907, when it had retreated too far for satisfactory study, Professor Todd brought his expedition north to Peru. Spending some weeks in Lima as headquarters, he made many trips, by courtesy of the Peruvian government, into the higher Andes, where a greater elevation can be reached by rail than anywhere else in the world 05,865 feetb. The purpose was to test atmospheric conditions for astronomy, and to experiment with his steel compartment car, in which the feeble air pressure at great heights can be restored to that at sea level: the only way discovered for obviating the disagreeable and often dangerous effects of mountain sickness. While in Lima, Professor Todd was elected an honorary member of the Geographical Society, and suggesting to the Peruvian government the

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4 THE AMHERST OLIO Later in that trip he conducted observations at the summit of the sacred mountain, Fuji San, in the interest of the Harvard College Observatory. During the New Year's day eclipse of 1889, his first proving it possible to telegraph from one station to another in advance of the moon's shadow led to his being called the man who beat the moon. Professor Todd organized the U. S. Government expedition to the West Coast of Africa, for another total eclipse, in 1889, the U. S. S. Pensacola being detailed for the expedition. Although, unfortunately, the day of the eclipse was cloudy, his expedition gathered much valuable scientific material in the departments of folk-lore, natural history, and terrestrial physics, which has been utilized in a series of government reports. Returning by Capetown, Ascension, and St. Helena, observations were conducted at each place. Professor Todd had charge of the Amherst College Exhibit at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 1893. He collected and arranged a large amount of material showing the progress and achievements of Amherst along many lines, and for its excellence the college was awarded a medal. In 1896, through the generosity of D. Willis James, and Arthur Curtiss James, '89, of New York, an Amherst College expedition crossed the Pacific to northern Japan in their schooner yacht Coronet, and Pro- fessor Todd made observations of the eclipse at Esashi, in Kitami, a province on the shore of the Okhotsk Sea, among the hairy Ainus, a region hitherto unvisited by foreigners. ' After this expedition, during which Professor Todd founded a library at Esashi, and to which he later added many books and photographs, the Emperor bestowed upon him the imperial Sake cup for his varied services in the cause of education in Japan. The old observatory at Amherst and the old telescope, among the earliest in the country, were becoming antiquated. The equipment was wholly inadequate to the modern needs of a progressive science. In 1900 Professor Todd made a tour of European Observatories with a view to embodying their best features, and by his efforts 875,000 were raised for the department, to purchase a new telescope, and to erect a new building here, which he designed. During this year he visited Tripoli in Africa, where, in the clear air of the desert of Sahara, he made very successful observa- tions of the sun's eclipse. I In 1901 a trip around the world was undertaken, another Amherst College expedition, for the purpose of studying the longest totality in historic time. Professor Todd established his station at Singkep, a small

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6 THE AMHERST OLIO desirability of establishing standard time, he had the satisfaction of seeing his plan unanimously voted. Soon afterward his suggestion was also adopted by Chile, Panama, and other Latin American countries. Professor Todd originated automatic photography of eclipses, and his inventions along this line have been successfully carried out on many expeditions. He was first, too, in having careful Weather observations made along prospective paths of eclipses for several years in advance, that by comparison of results the position most likely to be clear might be selected. He has conducted nine expeditions, which, though they have not all had favorable weather for astronomical purposes, have nevertheless contributed materially to science. He lectures frequently, both at other colleges and before clubs and scientific societies. His published technical papers number over a hundred, and he also writes for magazines, both popular and scientific. He is greatly interested in aeronautics as the best means of studying the atmosphere. Since 1891 he has made many experiments with models of flying apparatus of all sorts, and has taken an active interest in ballooning, making several ascents, the last of which carried him all the way from North Adams to Montreal. He has contributed to many year-books, dictionaries, and encyclo- pedias. Among his books are Stars and Telescopes, and A New Astronomy, now in its 13th edition, which has been translated into many foreign languages, including Hungarian and Turkish. He is a member of many societies and clubs: Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, member of the Philosophical Society of Washington, the Astronomical and Astrophysical Society, the Aero Club of America, the Boston Authors' Club, the University Club of Boston, the Astronomische Gesellschaft of Germany, the Societe Nationale des Sciences Naturelles et Mathematiques of Cherbourg, the Geographical Society of Lima, the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of London, and others. For twenty years he served as Secretary of the Faculty, and of the General Alumni Association. Two of the most successful pupils of Professor Todd are Robert H. Baker, '04, and Raymond S. Dugan, '99, now professors at Brown and Princeton. The latter has discovered 16 planets, to three of which he has given Amherst names. This year he is revising his treatise on the planet Mars, and preparing, with the help of C. J. Hudson, '10, complete maps for all the total eclipses of the sun that happen during the next two and a half centuries. His sense of humor helps him to present a sometimes rather difficult subject in a most interesting manner, and makes the students feel that they have in him, not so much an Overseer as a very good friend. Much valuable knowledge is continually being garnered, thanks to Pro- fessor Todd, under the big dome of Observatory Hill. We wish him con- tinued success in his work, and many happy years in which to carry it out.