New Britain herald., 1922-03-29
SPEAKER REVEALS
 STARS WONDERS
Dr. Baumgardt at Common
 wealth Club Meeting

The fourteenth annual meeting Of the Commonwealth club was held last evening at the Y. NJ, C, A. Every seat was taken at the tables in the ban quet hall on which the dinner, which preceded the meeting, was spread, of- ilccrs for the coming year were elect ed, reports read, and Il lecture in 'rhe Frontiers of the Universe" delivered by F. II, Baumgardt former officer in the Southern California Academy of Science and for five years its pres ident, was heard. Secretary w, E. Pays report showed a membership of about 250, such membership being limited, he added, only by the inabil- ity of the organization 10 obtain larg- CT quarters.
 Treasurer J.. c. Moody's repoxl showed;
 Balance. May IS, 1921, sloo.17; re- ceipts from membership, $262: re- ceipts from supper tickets, slS6.l5; total receipts, S54SS2; expenditures S423.79; balance. March 2S, Sl24.53. officers Elected.
 Officers elected were as follows: President, Buell. E. Dassette; Becre- tary, William =. Fay; treasurer, James c. Moody; chairman ot the lec- ture committee, Professor Louls T. Slade; chairman of the civic commit tee, Miss Elizabeth Allyn; chairman of the publicity committee, Howard l A. Timbrell; chairman Of the mem bership committee, Miss Mabel Hib- bard: chairman Of the social commit AF l of the decorating committee, Miss | Bessie Andrews; new members ol me executive committee, Miss Elizabeth Allyn, Mrs. John H. Kirkham and w. l.. Hagen | President Bassette called the mem- bers' attention to the letter previous ly read by Secretary Fay urging fub- scriptions to the United Community corporation drive for s40,oO0 being conducted this week.
 In introducing the speaker or the evening, he characterized Dr. Baum gardt as "as versatile a scientist as any who has ever come our way. lie mentioned the fact that the club had taken many trips with it's speakers, in ina eination. and emphasized the diff ferent character of the journey they were about to take-an eXpedltioh | into the heavens above.
 Asks The Great Question. pr Baumgardt delved at once into the great question of the universe l Who has not tried to solve the ftys- fer. ne asl,ed-the mystery of decay and reproduction, decay and repro ,..cjion, ever repeating itself over ana over? How shall we interpret the meaning of the starry panorama which. when studied, presents the scientific certitude of immortality lie asserted that we are necessary part of the great scheme of things, des- bite mans insignitlcance in size uhu the magnitude of the universe.
 The speaker took the sun distance from the earth, about 93, ooV'ooV miles, as 'the scientists yard SUCK being the shortest distance which the scientist considers in his study o1 the vast distances discussed. He asked his hearers to transport themsclVes 10 the sun, to look for the earth rom that viewpoint, and in so doing they would be able to discover this sphere as the tiniest grain of dust on the horizon. Thus he illustrated man $ insigniticance in the matter of Slze' but mans intellect, he pointed out later, was almost infinitely srea. III what it had achieved.
 Explains The Telescope
 Dr. Baumgardt explained interest inely the development of the tele- scope from that first one of Calico ] which nerceived with 100 times the strength of the human eye, the eye being the foundation for the theory of the telescope, to the great lnstru- ment on Mount Wilson, the lens oi which is 100 inches in diameter. The lens of the eye, he explained IS put one-ffth of an inch in diameter, gath CTS the rays of light and thus pro Iduces vision. The Lick telescope lens 36 inches in diameter, sees with S2,- 400 times the strength Of the eye this result being obtained by multl- plying the square of the diameter or the eyes lens and that of the lens of the telescope. Thus the LICK tele- scope can see" a star 32,400 times fainter than the faintest star visible to the human eye. - pr. Baumgardt spoke of the usual disappointment of people who looked through a great telescope for the hrs' time, expecting to see at once Wha' it had taken so long for science to discover,
 "Sees" The "Inyisible"
 In explaining the photographs that were shown subsequently he told how the eye of the camera placed where the human eye would fail to sec through the telescope, was able to re- !, produce, through the imposition o1 : impression upon impression, sights Tn the heavens invisible to the human eye. He likened the discoveries of things impossible to be seen by the eye to the knowledge that there exist IT the air sound waves which are so slow or so rapid that the resultant sound cannot be heard by the human ear \ The existence of things unseen ha. ] been proven by the camera.
 So there are sounds and possibly other things far beyond human ken l men possessing but five senses whicf [ are insufficient to feel, sec, hear al