Produced by ellinora, Robert Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) HISTORY OF THE HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY DURING THE PERIOD 1840–1890. BY DANIEL W. BAKER. _Reprinted from the Boston Evening Traveller._ CAMBRIDGE. 1890. PREFACE. A careful study of the early history of the Harvard College Observatory has been made by Mr. DANIEL W. BAKER. Many facts were thus brought to light which had not appeared in print. A series of newspaper articles was accordingly prepared, which were published in the Boston “Evening Traveller” on six successive Saturdays, beginning August 2, 1890. Much of this material appearing to be of sufficient value for preservation in a more permanent form, it has been reprinted in the present pamphlet, with slight alterations, and with the addition of the illustrations given on page 25. The parts numbered IV. and V. originally appeared together as a single article. Reproductions have been made of some of the illustrations. The articles were originally addressed, not to professional astronomers, but to the general public, and are to be regarded as a popular description of the work accomplished at the Harvard College Observatory during the first fifty years of its existence. EDWARD C. PICKERING. HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY, _September 13, 1890_. HISTORY OF THE HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY. 1840–1890. The present is the semi-centennial year of the Harvard College Observatory. A precise date cannot be named for the beginning, but in the early months of the year 1840 the institution was gradually organized, and before midsummer became a tangible fact and a working adjunct of the college. While the first astronomical observation is of record Dec. 31, 1839, it is well known that the observatory had not then an official staff, the appointment of the first director being of date Feb. 12, 1840, and the confirmation by the Board of Overseers somewhat later. Moreover, this particular observation and others immediately following were made in continuation of work begun elsewhere and not identified with the college affairs.