OBSERVATORY LIBRARY CONTAINS 60,000 BOOKS, 350,000 GLASS PLATES

The Harvard University Observatory shows points of advantage over most other university observatories in the country in several instances, according to the article which will appear in the sixth issue of the University Guide next spring. It is stated that Harvard owns the largest university astronomical library in America, and the largest collection by far of glass plates, pictures of the various stars and other objects in the heavens.

60,000 Books in Library

In the library are 60,000 books and pamphlets, and the number increases yearly. Building C, adjacent to the main Observatory building, contains the famous photographic collection of some 350,000 glass plates--a collection probably ten times as large as the next in size. The photographs were made partly at the Cambridge station, and partly at the various southern stations maintained by the Harvard Observatory during the past 45 years. All of these plates are in current use in the study of the motions, magnitudes, and variations of the stars and other celestial objects; they are studied not only by the Observatory staff, but also by frequent visitors from observatories in America and abroad. The collection is being increased at the rate of approximately 4000 plates annually, so rapidly that an additional fireproof plate vault must be erected soon.

The Harvard Observatory is the station for the western hemisphere for the telegraphic distribution of current information on astronomical discoveries the service is supplemented by a series of announcement cards, distributed to the astronomical centers in America and Europe. The station was established in 1843 as an institution for original research in astronomical science and at the present time 50 men and women are associated in the work, a few of whom are students in Harvard and Radcliffe.