Abstract
AT a time when astronomical knowledge is being extended at so rapid a rate, and in so many directions, as has been the case during the last few years, it is natural and right that the highest honour should be paid to those astronomers to whose genius and industry are due discoveries possible on account of original suggestion or ingenious execution. But at the same time, and on the other hand, there is no small danger that we may fail to give proper recognition to those other astronomers whose lives, unmarked by brilliant achievements, have been devoted to labours which are none the less valuable because they have been accomplished while quietly pursuing recognised lines, and are therefore devoid of conspicuous originality. In particular, the work of computation and arithmetical reduction of observations, without which the observations themselves either cannot be made or must remain almost entirely useless, is apt to fall into disrepute, as being wholly mechanical and unenterprising. This is certainly to be regretted; for just as a victorious general marching forward in the enemy's country must depend for his very safety on the fidelity and capacity of those officers who hold the conquered territory, so our scientific knowledge is liable to become disconnected and fragmentary unless we have capable men ready to perform the task of computing from the observations, and co-ordinating the results achieved in more exciting spheres of scientific work. If the pursuit of such unostentatious work lead to the effacement of the worker, our gratitude should be even all the greater for the self-denial exhibited and practised. Of such a man we have recently had to lament the loss, owing to the sad death of Dr. Tietjen, of Berlin.
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Dr. Friedrich Tietjen. Nature 52, 320–321 (1895). https://doi.org/10.1038/052320a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/052320a0