Evening star., 1937-11-06
Plea for a PIanetarium
In the National Capital
To The Editor of The star.


I'm these days Of tumult, hate and
war, the world over, 1t is q relief to the
anxious mind to turn to things which
are calming and beyond the ruin wrought
by man.. Nothing is more healing to the
sore soul than the silent majestic heav-
ems when seen far from the light and
noise of cities. Almost the same effect
is produced by the planetarium" With
these words, from the pen of DIR. Charles
@. Abbot, secretary CT the Smithsonian
Institution, wish to open my letter of
appeal in public, referring to the need
OF such fascinating and educational
place of entertainment, planetarium.
To describe the great spectacle the
majestic unfolding of the wonders of the
SKY, which takes place within a plane
tarium, produced by human ingenuity, is
indeed very difficult. One must actually
witness one of these performances to
fully appreciate It's wonders.
Recently l was fortunate to have seen
the Fels Planetarium in Philadelphia,
and listened to the lecture while. the
whole sky passed in review" in the
space Of about an hour and half, that
would have actually in its natural
course of time, have required days or
even years to be seen. Indeed, it was
the most exhilerating experience. On
my way out of the planetarium my
curiosity led me to question one of sew
eral youngsters standing in the corridor
what he thought of the show2 While he
was still rubbing his eyes, he said: Gee.
Mister. 1t was great" All the time !
thought was outside" Indeed, such is
the impression while one views this
man-made sky, SO naturally reproduced
in every respect, that one cannot help
from thinking that the real sky is
above. 1t becomes evident then, that
this splendid heavenly phenomena would
be specially appreciated by city dwellers.
since they are usually deprived of the
splendors of the sky by tall buildings
and bright city lights.
Why could not we have one of these
planetariums here in Washington? In
the greatest capital of any nation in the
world? What seems to hold back the
wheels OF progress" toward the con-
struction of one? Why could not Con-
gress appropriate sufficient funds for the
establishment OF such a splendid educa-
tional institution? To be equally en-
Joyed by young or old, layman or scien-
list. local citizens or by the thousands of
visitors from the States.
Visitors from far corners of our "land
OF the free and home OF the brave" come
mere to see our national shrine, the home
OF George Washington, reminding them
that we are at peace with the rest OF
the World--We are not troubled with
wars and unrest like many other nations
are now. And SO they move on to some
oIher interesting place of the city. Could
there be anything more appropriate for
them than to be able to walk into the
planetarium? Of we had oneD And see
the splendors of the heavens unfold be-
lore their eyes. everything SO orderly
and in peaceful harmony. One does not
nave to be an astronomer or astronom-
lcally minded to- enjoy these artificially
reproduced natural phenomena which
have engaged the attention of mankind
through the ages.
mat there is widespread and gen.
uine interest in astronomy, however.
there Is no doubt, statistics prove it.
In little over one year the number
OF visitors to the Hayden Planetarium
was over one million.
Inc number Of amateur astronomers
clubs In the last ten years increased
from scarcely score to several hum
dred today.
The number OF visitors clamoring to
the relatively few observatories that are
open to the public are vastly on the in
crease
Inls proves that American democracy
Is safe from such savagery as there now
exists among other nations, that they
are more inclined to the intellectual and
moral influence, the creative and con-
structive ideals, rather than the destruc-
tive and demoralizing.
The establishment OF institutions OF
educational value. such as a planatarium
as one. would surely help to maintain
and preserve our cherished traditions.
STEPHEN Macy, President
National Capital Amateur
Astronomers Association.