Since its founding in 1891, many people have passed through the doors of the Vatican Observatory.  A quick perusal of our guestbook reveals several Names, including Popes, nobel laureates, astronauts, actors, and saints. Today’s guestbook entry is from July 4, 1914, when William Campbell made a visit. Next to his name, William Wallace Campbell (1862-1938) wrote, “Lick Observatory, Calif.”  He was director of the Lick Observatory from 1901 to 1930. Why did he pass through the doors of the Vatican Observatory in the summer of 1914?  He was on his way to Russia, where he and a collaborator from the Berlin Observatory planned to photograph an eclipse to test Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.  Alas, politics intervened. World War I broke out, with Germany and Russia on opposite sides. Campbell’s collaborator Erwin Freundlich was detained and his equipment confiscated. Campbell (an American) was permitted to continue his work, but with makeshift equipment.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and … Continue reading →