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[43.02] An Experience to be Remembered

S. Torres-Peimbert (UNAM)

In August 1960 the 106th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society took place in Mexico City (it was the first time such a meeting took place in Mexico). There were 80 technical papers presented. A highlight of the meeting was the Russell Memorial lecture, given by Martin Schwarzschild, of Princeton University Observatory; Schwarzschild spoke on convection in stars. A public lecture was given by Donald H. Menzel, director of Harvard Observatory. Among the social activities were the banquet at Chapultepec Castle and a visit to Observatorio Astrof\'{i}sico de Tonantzintla. I was an undergraduate in Physics associated with the Observatorio Astrónomico Nacional. My job was to assist with the projection of lantern slides (heavy 3 1/4" by 4" glass mounted films). It was an extraordinary experience to meet, in the flesh, authors of textbooks I was reading and to witness the scientific presentations and heated arguments that took place around them. This meeting indeed marked my life, because it was then that I decided to become a professional astronomer.

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