It is said
that an Astronomer Royal of England once calculated that every
meridian observation of the moon made at Greenwich was worth a
pound sterling, on account of the help it would afford to the
navigation of the ocean. An accurate map of the United States
cannot be constructed without astronomical observations at
numerous points scattered over the whole country, aided by data
which great observatories have been accumulating for more than a
century, and must continue to accumulate in the future.
But neither the measurement of the earth, the making of maps, nor
the aid of the navigator is the main object which the astronomers
of to-day have in view. If they do not quite share the sentiment
of that eminent mathematician, who is said to have thanked God
that his science was one which could not be prostituted to any
useful purpose, they still know well that to keep utilitarian
objects in view would only prove & handicap on their efforts.
Consequently they never ask in what way their science is going to
benefit mankind. As the great captain of industry is moved by the
love of wealth, and the political leader by the love of power over
men, so the astronomer is moved by the love of knowledge for its
own sake, and not for the sake of its useful applications.
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