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In 1897, the University of Chicago’s Yerkes Observatory was “a wonder of the
world” with its 40-inch refracting telescope. It had been financed by Charles
Yerkes, one of the “robber barons” of 19th-century America, and it pioneered the
new science of astrophysics. After an early period of momentous discoveries, it
declined, only regaining its position as a leading research centre in the 1930s.
Donald Osterbrook’s Yerkes Observatory 1892-1950 (University of Chicago Press,
£31.95/$40, ISBN 0 226 63945 2) celebrates its achievements and
fluctuating fortunes with wit and understanding. Connoisseurs of academic
politics will be fascinated.