ITEM OF THE WEEK
THE ORIGIN OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AND ITS NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM
KEY WORDS: Great Debate National Academy of Science Smithsonian Institution Joseph Henry Harlow Shapley Heber Curtis spiral nebulae NAM Hap Arnold
THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE
President Lincoln was a big believer in Science and Technology for agriculture, manufacturing, and military purposes. So was Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson, who assembled a team of scholars from a number of different fields and helped draft a bill that would establish a “National Academy of Science” that would advise the President and others on most scientific matters. The bill was passed by Congress on March 3, 1863.
Lincoln had been greatly impressed by a demonstration on the military value of hot air balloons, conducted by Thaddeus Lowe on the National Mall near the present site of the National Air and Space Museum, in June, 1861. He immediately sought to include balloons in aerial reconnaissance, especially troop movements, to good effect. When Wilson’s bill hit his desk, he signed it immediately.
The fledgling NAS had 50 members, all eminent and successful researchers in their own field. It continued to serve as an advisory board, growing in size and stature for the next 50 years. When WWI came along, the NAS underwent a huge growth spurt. At the start of the War, there were 150 members of NAS, but demand for their advisory services ballooned (sorry) and more distinguished scientists were recruited by President Wilson. A separate organization, the National Research Council, was spun off of NAS in 1918 to help carry the load. Presidents Eisenhower (1956) and Bush 42 (1993) confirmed and amplified the importance of the NRC.
The NAS established the National Academy of Engineering in 1964 and what would become the National Academy of Medicine in 2015.
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
Smithson’s Bequest
James Smithson was a successful English scientist in both chemistry and geology. His second biggest claim to fame was the recognition that the zinc ore then known as calamine was actually two different minerals, now called smithsonite (zinc carbonate) and hemimorphite (zinc silicate). [Calamine lotion is different still; its active ingredient is a blend of zinc and ferric oxide.] He had been adopted by a well-to-do family as a boy. That, and the fact that his calamine was very useful in the manufacture of brass, made him quite wealthy. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society on April 26, 1787.
Smithson never married, and died on June 27, 1829, at age 64. His will proved rather unusual in one respect. He left everything to his only heir, a nephew, but stipulated that if the nephew was to die without heirs, the entire fortune would be given to the United States (which he had never visited) to create the “Smithsonian Institution” in Washington, DC, dedicated to the “increase and diffusion of knowledge.” The nephew died in 1835, without an heir. Nobody has ever figured out why for certain Smithson decided to leave his estate the way he did.
Aaron Vail, the U.S. chargé d'affaires in the U.K., sent a message about Smithson’s bequest to the U.S. Secretary of State, John Forsythe. Forsythe told President Jackson about it, and he informed Congress, which accepted the legacy and set up a committee to study how to implement it.
Federalists vs. Nullifiers
The seeds of what would become the Civil War were at hand, and the decision of what to do with the Smithson money became a battleground of symbols for the conflict to come. The Federalists were delighted with the idea of having a national institution that would be an international standard for a combination research facility and museum, and an ideal place to display and study all of the artifacts and samples coming back from the various expeditions and voyages of discovery of that time.
The opposition came from a small group of politicians known first as the Nullifier Party, founded by South Carolina senator, John C. Calhoun. They were believers in the priority of State’s Rights over any Federal endeavor, and that any State could overrule (nullify) and Federal law they wished to. They wanted no part of a National anything, and held that there was no Constitutional authority to create a National Institution, even if it was paid for by somebody else. The debate pitted Calhoun and the other South Carolina senator, William Campbell Preston, against the Federalists, led by John Quincy Adams, who prevailed. A former Treasury Secretary went to England in 1838 and retrieved the money, along with Smithson’s records and library. The final amount came to well over $550,000, a very large sum in those days.
Another eight years passed before the Smithsonian Institution was formally established. It has a unique place in American society, a reflection of the difference of opinion on its purpose as described above. It was specifically not included in any of the three branches of our government, but was rather a “Federal Establishment,” managed by a self-governing Board of Regents, who would decide how the new Institution would be set up. Land was acquired, and the first home of the Institution, a castle-like structure designed by architect James Renwick, was constructed. And it was fortunate for all of us that the person the Regents chose to lead the Institution was physicist Joseph Henry. He took office on December 3, 1846.
Joseph Henry
Joseph Henry was born in Albany, New York, in 1797. His family had little money, and young John worked his way up through school, and eventually became a professor of mathematics at Albany Academy, where he began important research on (applied) electromagnetism and its application in the newly-developed telegraph system. He shifted over to the precursor school that would become Princeton University in 1832, and his research gave him a positive international reputation, so much so that the Système International d’Unités (SI) unit forelectrical inductance is the “henry” in Joseph Henry’s honor.
Henry hit the ground running when got to the Smithsonian, and created a master plan for the new institution. His Programme of Organization was adopted by the Regents on December 13, 1847.
Henry took his task most seriously, and focused on research, publication, and international scientific exchanges. In addition to his other SI tasks, Henry created a program of volunteers to make weather observations that would lead to the creation of the National Weather Service. He belonged to a number of scientific societies and also worked tirelessly on behalf of students and young scientists.
One of Henry’s many important legacies is his role in the establishment of the National Academy of Science. He helped plan the organization, and when its first president, Alexander Dallas Bache became ill, he agreed to head that organization, too, in 1868. He would serve as head of both SI and NAS until his death in 1878. What an amazing career!
Given that Joseph Henry was the Secretary of the Smithsonian and the head of the National Academy of Science, it should come as no surprise that there was considerable “cross-talk” between both organizations!
One of the things that Henry had long supported was regular meetings of scientists of a variety of disciplines, and he would relatively-routinely offer up the Smithsonian as a venue. One of the most famous NAS meetings of that sort was held at the Smithsonian on April 26, 1920.
The William Ellery Hale Lectures
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 killed ~300 people and devastated 3.3 square miles of the city, leaving ~100,000 homeless. The rebuilding effort was monumental, and was for some, a great economic opportunity.
Big city means tall buildings means lots of elevators. William Hale’s elevator manufacturing and installation business was in the right place at the right time, and he made a fortune. He invested in real estate and made even more. He was a generous supporter of education. He had two sons and a daughter. One of the sons, George Ellery Hale, became a reasonably successful astronomer, but his most important contribution to the field was his fundraising and construction of large telescopes, including the 100” Hooker on Mt. Wilson and the 200” Hale on Mt. Palomar.
Mr. Hale died in 1898. His children recognized their father’s passion for higher education by sponsoring in 1914 an annual academic lecture series to be held at the National Academy of Science. The initial impetus of the Hale family was a focus on Darwinian evolution, but the topic list expanded as the series went on.
A Hale Lecture was to be the marquee event for the NAS meeting on April 26, 1920, a fitting conclusion to the day’s super-strong program.
THE GREAT DEBATE
The day of scientific presentations and interactions was amazing enough, but especially so because the evening Hale Lecture was a debate about the nature of the Universe.
State of Astronomy in 1920
Astronomy, like Physics, was on a roll in the half-century centered on 1920. Not only were our view of the Solar System becoming more complete, telescopes and spectroscopy was advancing our knowledge of more distant objects. However, there was no deeper understanding of the scale of astronomical things, especially outside of “island universe,” if it existed. The prevailing view was that the Milky Way, and perhaps its immediate surroundings, was the Universe!
One of the most profound discoveries of this time was made by Henrietta Leavitt at Harvard College Observatory. She was looking at high-resolution photographs of the Small Magellanic Cloud taken on a number of nights, and meticulously comparing them to look for any changes. She found a total of 37 that varied in brightness with time in the pattern of the star, Delta Cephei. Since they were all more-or-less the same distance from Earth, their apparent magnitude would be a true reflection of their absolute magnitude. What she found amazed her. There was an obvious relationship between how bright the star was and how rapidly its brightness oscillated. This meant that the “Period Luminosity Relationship” could be used to determine distances between Earth and the Cepheid variable in question – a very powerful astronomical tool, and one soon put to good use.
Spiral Nebulae: Curtis’ View
Astronomers had observed and classified a number of different astronomical objects by 1920. They generally fell into two classes: clusters (of stars) and nebulae (gaseous appearance), or perhaps a combination of the two (like the Pleiades). “Open” star clusters were almost certainly part of the Milky Way; “Globular” star clusters were almost certainly closely associated with the Milky Way; but the observations were less clear about “nebulae.” A number of nebulae were spiral-shaped, and too small (distant) to allow the resolution of individual stars (if there were any). Some astronomers envisioned them as being closely akin to other gaseous nebulae, just happening to show a whirlpool-like shape as seen from Earth due to the internal motion of the gas. Others thought that spiral nebulae were galaxies like our own Milky Way, but extremely far away.
Heber Curtis had been studying spiral nebulae at the James Lick Observatory for 20 years before being named the Director of the Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh. His traditional view of the Milky Way was too small by a factor of three, but his view that Andromeda, Triangulum, and other spiral nebulae were other galaxies not too unlike the Milky Way proved correct.
Spiral Nebulae: Shapley’s View
Harlow Shapley came to professional astronomy in a round-about way, starting as a journalism student. He received a fellowship to Princeton, where he studied under the well-known astronomer Henry Norris Russell. He immediately conducted an important two-fold study of the previously-mentioned globular clusters.
Other astronomers had earlier noticed that the distribution of globular clusters in the sky was not uniform at all, but strongly asymmetric, but they had little way of assessing the situation further. Shapley, however, could apply Leavitt’s newly-discovered Cepheid variable law to determine two things about the globular clusters. First, with the location and distances he could plot them in 3-D, and found that they formed a cluster around the part of the Milky Way more heavily-populated by stars (meaning that the Sun was not at/near the center). Second, they were farther away than previously thought, making the Milky Way significantly larger than 30,000 light-years.
Shapley thought of the globular clusters as orbiting the Milky Way, not too far from it. Gaseous nebulae could occupy that near-Milky Way area, too; he saw no evidence for anything “beyond.”
Assessment
The Great Debate, and the talks earlier in the day, are a revealing cross-cut of the prevailing state of a variety of the sciences circa 1920, delivered by some of the finest scientists of the day, or any day. It also was a (yet another) milestone in the ongoing mutually-positive interaction between the National Academy of Science and the Smithsonian Institution.
Seen from the perspective of 106 years in the future, the Great Debate also was a milestone in the soon-to-grow-large divide between “Little” Science (requiring but modest funding) and “Big” Science (requiring expensive technology). And I suspect there was a generational aspect to the Debate as well. Curtis was older and traditionally “old school,” Shapley was younger and more attuned to the latest technology.
Neither Curtis nor Shapley were entirely wrong/correct. And besides, Edwin Hubble soon settled the issue. He also used Leavitt’s period-luminosity law, but he had access to the new 100” Hooker telescope, then the largest in the world. It was capable of resolving individual stars in the spiral nebulae in Andromeda and Triangulum, and if one could see individual stars, one could find Cepheid variables. Their apparent brightness showed them to be much too far away to be part of the Milky Way. Andromeda and Triangulum were galaxies in their own right, not unlike the Milky Way, and by extension, many/most of the other spiral nebulae then known were galaxies, too! That’s why there is a Hubble Space Telescope, not a Curtis or Shapley one!
The Smithsonian Institution has continued to grow over the past century, adding and updating units as new scientific and historical disciplines were developed, and continued to serve both the professional community and the general public. One of most recent examples is particularly near and dear to my heart...
CONTINUING THE SMITHSONIAN’S SERVICE TO AMERICA
General Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold in WWII
General Henry “Hap” Arnold was an aviation pioneer, instructed by the Wright Brothers themselves; the Chief of the U.S. Army Air Corps prior to WWII; the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces in WWII; the first Commanding General of the U.S. Air Force when it became a separate service (which makes him the only person to hold five-star rank in two separate Services!); one of the founders of the RAND think tank; and was one of the founders of Pan American World Airways; Hap Arnold was awarded the very first MacKay Trophy, which quickly became a very prestigious award. Then he won another.
General Arnold had been an advocate of air power from back in the days with Billy Mitchell. At first, Arnold’s perspective seemed to emphasize using air power defensively. One of his first projects at air chief was to develop the B-17 “Flying Fortress” long-range, heavily-armed bomber. At first, the bomber’s mission was scouting and coastal defense; the “Fortress” in the nickname meant the B-17 would extend the range of effective coastal defense that a castle would have had back in the olden days. He soon began to take more of a strategic view, realizing that long-range aircraft could damage a foe’s ability to make war. He had been attuned to the importance of military hardware and logistics for a long time, and his knowledge and skill sets were growing as fast as his career.
General Arnold was also a big believer in using outside expertise in the aeronautical advancements he knew were possible. He knew that the same interrelationship I’ve mentioned in the past, where scientific inquiry and the technology that enables it are intertwined. Arnold knew that capability required the best tools and personnel available, and reached out to organizations such as Cal Tech and the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory, and to scientists like Theodore von Kármán.
War clouds loomed, and the Air Corps was dealing with internal organization issues. On June 20, 1941, the Air Corps and the GHQ Air Force were merged into a new entity, the United States Army Air Force (USAAF), with Arnold in charge. Two days later, the Germans invaded Russia. The next month, President Roosevelt asked Arnold and his Air War Plans Division to prepare a plan and the logistical needs it would require, that would accomplish four objectives: general defense of the Western Hemisphere, general defense strategy against Japan, a strategic air campaign in Europe, and a strategic air campaign against Japan.
The plan had to be ambitious in order to accommodate tasks the magnitude of Roosevelt’s request, and would have to entail a lot of logistical considerations. Arnold and his team called it “AWPD/1,” and estimated that the new USAAF would have to expand to a fleet of 60,000 aircraft of all types, requiring a force of 2.1 million men, for the plan to be successful. The plan also contained recommendations to pursue aggressively the development of evermore sophisticated and capable aircraft, including the B-29 and the B-36, then just concepts on the drawing board.
Arnold was promoted to Lieutenant General on December 15, 1941, a week after Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt issued an Executive Order that granted Arnold’s USAAF full autonomy and separation from the U.S. Army’s ground forces and supply. He was officially named the Commanding General of the USAAF, and he joined both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combined Chiefs of Staff. He immediately took action to increase the logistical estimates made initially, and to aggressively implement the revised AWPD/1 Plan.
Arnold took pains to be more inclusive in his approach to personnel than was generally the trend in those days. He still backed a segregated Army, but did recognize the role women could play in defense of the country. He ordered the creation of the USAAF’s Women’s Flying Training Detachment, to be directed by famed aviator Jacqueline Cochrane. The unit morphed into the Women Airforce Service Pilots, with many women serving as pilots in non-combat situations.
The Eighth Air Force was slated to be the primary strategic force used against Germany. He posted trusted colleagues for key positions in it; Carl Spaatz would command the 8th, and Ira Eaker would command its bomber units. Arnold’s focus was on Germany, but the first assignment for the 8th was North Africa, where he learned another key lesson, that bombers must have fighter escort in order to be successful without unacceptable losses.
General Arnold was also growing more aggressive in the face of serious losses, and being a former acquaintance was no shield for perceived under-performance. A number of changes at the USAAF’s highest levels were made in the first half of the War. The air war in Europe was going well, with well-escorted B-17s and B-24s providing strategic bombing on War industries and infrastructure.
The picture in the Pacific Theater, at least from the USAAF’s perspective, was not as favorable. The B-29s were finally in service, the backbone of the 20th Air Force, and great efforts were made to use them to hit targets in the Japanese home islands from bases in China. The logistic constraints were extreme, especially after the Japanese interdicted the Burma Road. The only way to supply a B-29 force with fuel and bombs was to fly it over the “Hump” (Himalayas) from bases in India. Losses were ruinous. Supplying the force was ruinous. Arnold assigned General Curtis LeMay to run the B-29 operation, but the logistics were just too formidable. LeMay had the good sense to move the 20th to the newly captured Marianas Islands and bomb Japan from there. Success eluded them at first, in spite of Japan being within range. Only when he sent the bombers in at night, at low altitude, with fire bombs, was his strategic bombing campaign against Japan effective.
General Arnold had come to regard strategic bombing more and more as the War progressed, and he had set up an odd command structure where he would command the 20th Air Force personally, in addition to his Chief duties. During this time period, Arnold was under a lot of stress from his many important duties. He also had a very aggressive travel schedule, including supporting conferences of the Allies (and remember, air travel in those days wasn’t particularly comfortable, it was physically demanding). His health hadn’t been the best in the pre-War years, and now his duties were almost overwhelming, as they would be for anyone.
General Arnold suffered a heart attack on February 28, 1943, just after his return from the Casablanca Conference. His recovery required three weeks after a hospitalization for a few days. The Army Regulations in place at the time would normally have forced Arnold from active duty, but Roosevelt personally intervened, and Arnold kept his post. Not only that, on March 19, 1943, he was promoted (temporarily) to the rank of General, and he would become a Five-Star General of the Army on December 21, 1944, subordinate only to Marshall, MacArthur, and Eisenhower.
General Arnold had three other heart attacks requiring hospitalization during the War years, and another one that he toughed out. Health issues finally convince Arnold to go on light duty status, but he still traveled extensively. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. On July 16, General Arnold turned the 20th AF over to General LeMay.
General Arnold performed one more great service for Americans. He made sure a number of aircraft were preserved after WWII. Many now are preserved at the Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton. Many others formed the core of the collection of the new Smithsonian National Air Museum, the forerunner of the National Air and Space Museum with the advent of NASA’s amazing successes in the 1960’s and beyond.
WHAT IT MEANS TODAY
The Smithsonian Institution is now the largest and most-visited Museum system in the world. It is fulfilling Smithson’s mandate for the “acquisition and diffusion of knowledge” by being the Nation’s Museum in many fields and also a center of research and learning.
The National Academy of Sciences has performed admirably, too. Their many study groups provide valuable guidance for many areas of study. An outstanding example of what I mean can be found in the release by the NAS of the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032.
NAS decadal surveys provide strong guidance as to the direction and priorities of academic research for that particular field in the coming decade, and in NASA’s case, their planning follows Decadal guidance. Of course, there are missions “in the pipeline” (Dragonfly, Lucy, Psyche, DAVINCI, and VERITAS) that won’t be stopped by a new decadal, but the ramifications for missions coming after them are considerable.
You can find more details of the above and supporting references in the Item of the Week entry on the website: https://airandspacethisweek.com/ItemOfTheWeek.html.