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Session 1 - HAD I - Special Palomar Session.
Division, Oral session, Sunday, June 07
Palomar,
Astronomical understanding registered dramatic gains between 1910 and 1950. Most especially, astronomers came to regard most stars as plasma spheres powered by nuclear reactions deep within their interiors and to view the galaxy as one among myriads in an expanding universe. In discussing why those working on astronomical problems during this period were so successful, I argue that they had better tools than their predecessors-not only bigger telescopes but also more puissant physical theories.
