Walter Sydney Adams Papers
1881-1939
(0.25 linear feet)

B Ad19

© American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street * Philadelphia, PA 19106-3386
 American Philosophical Society 105 South Fifth Street Philadelphia, PA 19106-3386
Table of contents Abstract
An expert in stellar spectroscopy, Walter Sydney Adams (1876-1956) made important empirical contributions to the analysis of the physical conditions of stellar and planetary atmospheres, determining the distances to extragalactic objects, and understanding stellar evolution. Adams succeeded his mentor George Ellery Hale as director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, serving in that capacity from 1923 to 1946.

The Adams Papers contains approximately 100 letters addressed to the astronomer Walter Sydney Adams, dating primarily from the period after his move to Mount Wilson Observatory in 1904. Much of the correspondence is relatively perfunctory, however a few letters include interesting scientific content, including Harlow Shapley discussing his photometric study of HV 3435 and interest in Alpha Circini, Arthur Compton's comments on Keener's photoelectric method, Svante Arrhenius on the possibilities of constructing a new observatory for the Swedish Academy of Sciences, and Arthur Eddington discussing the implications of the spectrum of the companion to Sirius. Among Adams' other correspondents are J. C. Kapteyn, James H. Jeans, Henry Norris Russell, Elihu Thomson, and Willem de Sitter.
Background note
An expert in stellar spectroscopy, Walter Sydney Adams was born of American missionary parents in the Syrian village of Kassab in 1876. As an undergraduate at Dartmouth, Adams studied astronomy under Edwin Frost, and after receiving his bachelor's degree in 1898, decided to concentrate on celestial mechanics at the University of Chicago, working under George Ellery Hale at the university's new Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, which had a 40 inch refractor, then (and now) the largest refracting telescope in the world.

Under Hale and, after he moved to Wisconsin, Frost, Adams became adept in modern spectroscopic analysis, and after receiving his AM in 1900, he was encouraged to continue toward a doctorate at the University of Munich. Yet after less than a year in Germany, Hale recalled Adams to Yerkes to take part in a large scale project designed to improve understanding of stellar evolution through the spectral analysis of sunspots and "late-type" stars.

When restrictions in funding at Chicago combined in 1904 with the availability of funds from the Carnegie Institution to build a 60 inch telescope, Hale decided to leave Yerkes and establish a new observatory at Mount Wilson in the hills above Pasadena, Calif. Adams followed and continued his spectroscopic work, eventually taking over a range of administrative duties from Hale, and succeeding him as director from 1923 to 1946.

At Mount Wilson, Adams made fundamental empirical contributions to understanding how and why spectra could be used to reveal the conditions of stellar atmospheres, helping to establish the means by which spectra could be used to discern the temperature, pressure, and density of stars. His spectroscopic observations also helped to confirm the presence of two fundamental classes of stars, giants and dwarfs, and he and his colleague A. Kolschütter discovered the use of spectral parallax (a comparison of the intrinsic versus observed brightness of stars) in determining the distance to stars. In recognition of his efforts, Adams was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1915, and was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1917, and the Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences in 1918.

In 1925, Adams reached the peak of public acclaim when his observation of the gravitational field around Sirius B corroborated Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Later in his career, he devoted his attention to the analysis of planetary atmospheres, reporting the presence of carbon dioxide on Venus in 1932 and trace amounts of oxygen on Mars in 1934, and he used Doppler displacement to study the rotation of the sun. As an administrator, Adams capably oversaw the completion of the 100 inch reflecting telescope at Mount Wilson, along with its solar and stellar telescopes, and late in his career, the 200 inch telescope at Mount Palomar. Adams retired in 1946 and remained in Pasadena. He was survived by his second wide Adeline Miller, and two children.


Scope and content
The Adams Papers contains approximately 100 letters addressed to the astronomer Walter Sydney Adams, dating primarily from the period after his move to Mount Wilson Observatory in 1904. Much of the correspondence is relatively perfunctory, however a few letters include interesting scientific content, including Harlow Shapley discussing his photometric study of HV 3435 and interest in Alpha Circini, Arthur Compton's comments on Keener's photoelectric method, Svante Arrhenius on the possibilities of constructing a new observatory for the Swedish Academy of Sciences, and Arthur Eddington discussing the implications of the spectrum of the companion to Sirius. Among Adams' other correspondents are J. C. Kapteyn, James H. Jeans, Henry Norris Russell, Elihu Thomson, and Willem de Sitter.

Two letters in the collection deal specifically with instrumentation: H. Spencer Jones complains of the problems in the manufacture of optical glass in the post-World War I period, and Elihu Thomson writes about his manufacture of quartz disks and tubes. Typically, a few of the letters include interesting personal details. In addition to Edwin B. Frost's recommendation for a fellowship at the University of Chicago when Adams was a graduate student there, the collection includes a fine, long letter from Russell describing his trip in the Middle East, and Adams' correspondence with English colleagues during the First World War provides a glimpse of the stress on astronomical research in England and on Anglo-American relations.

Administrative information
Restrictions
None.

Provenance
Acquired from Mary Benjamin, April 1966 (accn. no. 1966-545ms).

Preferred citation
Cite as: Walter Sydney Adams Papers, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information
Recatalogued by rsc, 2004.

Additional information
Related material
The largest collection of the papers of Walter Sydney Adams is housed at the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., which also holds a substantial archive of material relating to the Mount Wilson Observatory. Hale is a major correspondent in the papers of Edwin Frost (Yerkes Observatory) and Henry Norris Russell (Princeton).

The Niels Bohr Library at the American Institute of Physics has 10 pages of autobiographical notes by Adams, 1954, an oral history with him regarding the early days at Mount Wilson Observatory, and a tape recording of the Fiftieth Anniversary dinner for Adams at Mount Wilson, 1954.

The Printed Materials Department houses several works by Adams, including:
Frost, Edwin Brant and Walter Sydney Adams. Radial Velocities of Twenty Stars Having Spectra of the Orion Type (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1903). Call no.: 378.773 C43M.

Adams, Walter Sydney. An Investigation of the Rotation Period of the Sun by Spectroscopic Methods (Washington: Carnegie Institution, 1911). Call no.: 506.73 C21p no.138.

Adams, Walter Sydney. The Sun's Place Among the Stars (Washington: Smithsonian, 1936). Call no.: 506.73 Sm6an 1935.

Adams, Walter Sydney. What Lies Between the Stars (Washington: Smithsonian, 1942). Call no.: 506.73 Sm6an 1941.

References
Joy, A. H. "Walter Sydney Adams," Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences 31 (1958): 1-31.

Added entries
Subjects
  • Astronomical spectroscopy
  • Astronomy
  • Mount Wilson Observatory
  • World War, 1914-1918

    • Contributors
  • Adams, Walter Sydney, 1876-1956
  • Arrhenius, Svante, 1859-1927
  • Bush, Vannevar, 1890-1974
  • Compton, Arthur Holly, 1892-1962
  • Dyson, Frank Watson, 1868-1939
  • Eddington, Arthur Stanley, 1882-1944
  • Frost, Edwin Brant, 1866-1935
  • Hale, George Ellery, 1868-1938
  • Jeans, James Hopwood, 1877-1946
  • Jones, H. Spencer (Harold Spencer), 1890-
  • Kapteyn, J. C. (Jacobus Cornelius), 1851-1922
  • Newall, Hugh Frank, 1871-
  • Russell, Henry Norris, 1877-1957
  • Shapley, Harlow, 1885-1972
  • Sliphen, V. M.
  • St. John, Charles Edward, 1857-1935
  • Thomson, Elihu, 1853-1937
  • Turner, H. H. (Herbert Hall), 1861-1930

    		•
    Contact information
    American Philosophical Society
    105 South Fifth Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19106-3386
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    ©2003


    Detailed inventory

    		 Breakfast complimentary to Prof. Richard A. Procter 1881 April 9 Pr. Menu, 1p.

    		Autographs of attendees on verso.

    		Frost, Edwin B..
    To W. R. Harper     		1899 Feb. 24 ALS, 3p.

    		Recommending Adams for fellowship.

    		Newcomb, Simon.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1901 June 18 ALS, 1p.

    		Hale, George Ellery.
    ALS to Walter Sydney Adams     		1908 Mar. 12 ALS, 1p.

    		Includes card from James A. Ward, sculptor, glued to verso.

    		Kapteyn, J. C..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1911 June 28 ALS, 3p.

    		Kapteyn, J. C..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1911 Dec. 6 ALS, 3p.

    		Thanks for the radial velocities; I anxious for better information on A stars. Sends list of all stars to magnitude 9'0 within 15 to the pole.

    		Gates, Henry C..
    To Ferdinand Ellerman     		1913 Mar. 25 TLS, 1p.

    		Julien, W. H..
    To Charles E. St. John     		1914 July 21 ALS, 4p.

    		Re: spectroscopic observations and theory.

    		Plummer, H. S..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1914 Sept. 23 ALS, 1p.

    		Turner, H. H..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1917 Jan. 12 ALS, 2p.

    		Congratulations on receiving the Gold Medal.

    		Newall, Hugh Frank.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1917 Jan. 14 ALS, 1p.

    		Congratulations on receiving the Gold Medal.

    		Dyson, Frank Watson.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1917 Feb. 8 ALS, 2p.

    		Congratulations on receiving the Gold Medal.

    		Aitken, Robert G..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1917 Feb. 15 ALS, 1p.

    		Congratulations on receiving the Gold Medal.

    		Turner, H. H..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1917 Feb. 27 ALS, 2p.

    		"The distraction of the war is serious... It is overdue that our cousins over the water should join us in stamping on this mad dog -- terribly strong & terribly mad."

    		Kapteyn, J. C..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1917 Mar. 26 ALS, 2p.

    		Congratulations on receiving the Gold Medal.

    		Dyson, Frank Watson.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1917 Dec. 28 ALS, 4p.

    		"If this war induces the same friendly feelings between Americans & Englishmen generally as exist and have existed over now for some time between the Astronomers of the two countries it will not have been altogether in vain. However, we hope for more than that. I am convinced that if only a democratic government could arise in Germany there would before many years be an era of good-will. Unfortunately the prospect does not seem very near..."

    		Jeans, James H..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1918 Jan. 1 ALS, 4p.

    		Certainly is rotation in Andromeda, "am inclined to think the numbers probably represent a linear law corresponding to a rigid body rotation."

    		Turner, H. H..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1918 Jan. 1 ALS, 3p.

    		Foresees tough year with the war, Germany having the advantage, but "the U.S. are very, very welcome now."

    		Campbell, W. W..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1918 Apr. 10 TLS, 1p.

    		Seeking lantern slide of the Andromeda nebula showing the new stars discovered at Mount Wilson.

    		Pickering, William H..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1919 Mar. 22 ALS, 1p.

    		Kapteyn, J. C..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1919 July 25 ALS, 1p.

    		Turner, H. H..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1919 Aug. 1 ALS, 2p.

    		Jones, H. Spencer.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1919 Aug. 7 ALS, 4p.

    		Problems in obtaining optical glass since the war; flint glass (re: firms Wood and Derby, Chance).

    		Newall, Hugh Frank.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1919 Aug. 12 ALS, 1p.

    		Wood, R. W..
    To Ferdinand Ellerman     		1919 Nov. 10 PC, 1p.

    		Hale, George Ellery.
    Address at the retirement of Dr. Woodward     		1920 TMsS, 2p.

    		Sliphen, V. M..
    To Charles E. St. John     		1921 July 15 TLS, 1p.

    		Re: high dispersion spectra and the atmosphere of Venus.

    		Arrhenius, Svante.
    To George E. Hale     		1922 July 9 ALS, 1p.

    		Possibilities for building a new observatory for the Swedish Academy of Sciences.

    		Thomson, Elihu.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1922 Aug. 3 TLS, 2p.

    		Re: production of quartz disks and quartz tubing.

    		Gregory, R. A..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1922 Dec. 3 ALS, 2p.

    		Editorial duties at Nature precent him from concentrating exclusively on any one science.

    		Shapley, Harlow.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1924 Feb. 4 TLS, 1p.

    		Will soon complete photometric study of HV 3435 and are now interested in Alpha Circini and similar objects because of the ionized strontium lines and low temperature calcium lines.


    		Schlesinger, Frank.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1924 Feb. 5 TLS, 1p.

    		Regarding his publication of spectroscopic parallaxes.

    		Eddington, Arthur Stanley.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1924 Feb. 6 ALS, 2p.

    		Regarding implications of the spectrum of the companion of Sirius.

    		Jeans, James H..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1924 May 29 TLS, 1p.

    		Will visit in early September at Hubble's invitation. Jeans will have wife and child with him, "but they will not interfere in any way with astronomical activities."

    		Pritchett, Henry S..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1924 July 7 ALS, 2p.

    		Birkhoff, George D..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1924 Oct. 4 ALS, 2p.

    		Day, Arthur L..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1924 Oct. 13 TLS, 1p.

    		Sitter, Willem de.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1925 Jan. 24 ALS, 1p.

    		The lecture he gave at Princeton on the size of the universe will be published in the publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

    		Abbot, C. G..
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1925 Jan. 26 TLS, 1p.

    		Smithsonian engaged in million dollar endowment drive.

    		Hale, George Ellery.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1927 Sept. 8 ALS, 1p.

    		Frost wants 12 inch Kenwood reflective retruned.

    		Hale, George Ellery.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		ca.1927 LS, 1p.

    		Congratulations on birth of their child.

    		Russell, Henry Norris.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1930 Mar. 21 ALS, 4p.

    		Good news about Mount Wilson. Account of trip to Middle East.

    		Hale, George Ellery.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1930 Oct. 24 PC, 1p.

    		Thanks for the roses.

    		Newall, Hugh Frank.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1935 June 5 ALS, 1p.

    		Invitation to dinner.

    		Jeans, James H..
    To T. Spicer-Simson     		1937 Nov. 11 TLS, 1p.

    		Escanglon, S. (Observatoire de Paris).
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1938 Jan. 8 ALS, 1p.

    		In French. Thanks for the letter of Mrs. Adams.

    		Compton, Arthur Holly.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1938 Feb. 28 ALS, 3p.

    		Doubts about whether Keener's photoelectric method will supplant the photographic method, but it has the merit of quantifying intensity.

    		Newall, Hugh Frank.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1938 May 19 ALS, 2p.

    		Death of George E. Hale.

    		Eddington, Arthur Stanley.
    Address to the members of the International Astronomical Union     		[1938] AMs, 2p.

    		Bush, Vannevar.
    To Walter Sydney Adams     		1939 Oct. 12 TLS, 1p.

    		Milne, E. A..
    To unidentified recipient     		ALS, n.d. 1p. (inc.)