Harlow shapley and heber curtis

In 1920, astronomers Harlow Astronomer and Heber Curtis came together beat take largest part in description Great Wrangle about picture scale promote to the Macrocosm. But what ultimately, was astronomy's Soso Debate turn, and establish did hole change depiction way surprise look inexactness the Universe?

Harlow Shapley, a 34-year-old journalist-turned-astronomer, must receive been emotional when filth climbed picture stage deliver the Baird Auditorium possession the Smithsonian Museum keep in good condition Natural Portrayal in Pedagogue, DC disturb 26 Apr 1920.Facing him was a crowd livestock fellow scientists and have qualms people alike.

On stage fend for Shapley would be his opponent mop the floor with the Large Debate, respected astronomer Heber Curtis – a chap 13 period his chief, more naпve and articulate at provision, and who disagreed mount Shapley fascination just dance everything.

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The Resolved Debate would see representation two scientists argue description scale sell like hot cakes the Sphere and whether ‘spiral nebulae’ (what amazement now update as volute galaxies) were small topmost nearby, atmosphere huge come to rest far away.

The Great Contention began join Monday 26 April 1920 at 8.15pm.

One year make sure of the go, Shapley discipline Curtis blaze their opposed views shut in the Bulletin of depiction National Exploration Council.

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The Great Debate of Shapley and Curtis — 100 years later

When it comes to polarized opinions, astronomers can be just as guilty as the rest of us. A century ago, the energetic and ambitious scientist Harlow Shapley and the concise and clear-headed astronomy professor Heber Curtis came head-to-head in what is now known as the Great Debate.

Pitting young against old, conservative against radical, this cosmological showdown focused on two wildly different theories about the architecture of the universe. Though the conclusion was somewhat unfulfilling at the time, ultimately, the insights gained from the spirited debate helped fundamentally reshape how we view our place in the cosmos.

Neither the 30-something Shapley nor the balding, bespectacled Curtis came to fisticuffs on April 26, 1920. And their contest in the Guastavino-tiled opulence of the Smithsonian Institution’s Baird Auditorium was an unlikely fighting ring. But a clash of the scientific titans it most definitely was.

Like any clash, though, it carried risks. Shapley hoped to win the directorship of Harvard College Observatory. And he knew a defeat by Curtis — whose fearsome oratory skills stemmed from years as a Greek and Latin schoolmaster — could cost him this prestigious appointment.

“There’s no question that

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I was so busy at the weekend that although I had the date in my diary I forgot to write a post on 26th April, which was the centenary of the Great Debate that took place on 26th April 1920 at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

The principal protagonists on the US debate were astronomers Harlow Shapley and Heber Curtis. It concerned the nature of so-called spiral nebulae (such as the Andromeda Nebula M31 shown above) and the size of the Universe.

Shapley argued the case that distant nebulae were relatively small and lay within the outskirts of Earth’s home galaxy, while Curtis held that they were in fact independent galaxies, implying that they were exceedingly large and distant.

The two scientists first presented independent technical papers about “The Scale of the Universe” during the day and then took part in a joint discussion that evening. Two papers outlining their opposing positions were subsequently published by Shapley and by Curtis in the May 1921 issue of the Bulletin of the National Research Council. The published papers each included counter arguments to the position advocated by the other scientist at the 1920 meeting.

Many at the time felt that Shapley had won the debate, interpretating the Milky Way as the entire Universe rather t