Telescope at Smithsonian
Clock at Smithsonian
drum at Smithsonian
Level for Vertical axis
Clock at Smithsonian
|Roll Off Roof Observatory
Building protected from sun.
Two out buildings to the right.
Viewed from Observatory Ave.
|Roll Off Roof Observatory
Building protected from sun.
Astronomer's house to the left.
Viewed from Observatory Ave.
Viewed from Observatory Ave.
Viewed from Observatory Ave.
|Out buildings, Roll Off
Roof Observatory, house.
Viewed from Luce Ave.
Orange netting at target building location.
|Roll Off Roof Observatory,
Viewed from Luce Ave.
1930? photo of first astronomer's house &
It looks to be much closer to the hills than the current location? Telephoto lens
first house is now on an adjacent property.
Latitude Observatory Looking South
Popular Science Monthly Nov 1909
Note that the telescope is sitting on a pedestal that's waist high. The reason for
the North facing door is so that when the telescope is horizontal it can see a North
alignment mark at the top of a waist high concrete pier in the meridian alignment building.
Popular Science Monthly Nov 1909
When scope is rotated so that horizontal axis is East-West
the scope moves in the meridian plane.
There are stops on the lower azimuth circle that can be set to 180 deg.
If the scope is pointing 10 deg East of meridian and the scope
rotated about the vertical axis to the other stop 180 degrees away
then it will be pointing 10 degrees West of the meridian
allowing the difference between the zenith angles to be
measured using the eyepiece micrometer.
Within a year or two of moving to Ukiah (early 1990s) I saw a street sign "Observatory Ave." and turned onto it searching for an observatory and found a roll off roof observatory. The local historical building had a little information about it. This web page is about the Ukiah latitude observatory (Wiki) part of a half dozen identical observatories all located at the same latitude all around the world.
Official Ukiah Latitude Observatory facebook web page.
See Wandering Pole, Wobbling Grid (Reference5
) for some history.
This means that the location observatories in relation to the spin axis of the Earth are also changing. The next year a handful of observatories measured their latitude for a year and found a variation. As would be expected observatories close in longitude would have the same latitude variation (top 3 plots) and an observatory on the opposite side of the Earth would be out of phase (bottom plot).
Ref: On the contribution of the Geodetic Institute Potsdam to the International Latitude Service, Joachim Höpfner, Paper presented on the occasion of the centennial of the first observations of the International Latitude Service in 1999
Note that one division on the vertical axis is 0.1 arc seconds and the total variation over a year is about 0.5 arc seconds.
Even today it's far from a trivial exercise to measure angles this small. The GPS in a cell phone can not do this yet (2015).
The book Longitude by Dava Sobel describes the 40 year effort (1730 - 1770) that John Harrison (wiki) went through to develop the marine chronometer (Wiki). There's also a movie based on the book called Longitude. What Harrison accomplished is fantastic both in terms of a marine chronometer but also in terms of horology (Wiki). For example he was the inventor of the temperature compensated pendulum (Wiki). But once accurate balance wheel clocks or better quartz clocks or GPS navigation receivers are available the problem of finding the longitude goes away.The movement of the North pole caused by the wobble of the Earth was a much larger problem that took longer to solve than the longitude problem. Many astronomical observations can not be made without a knowledge where the North pole is located (i.e. where the spin axis of the Earth is pointing in space). The Latitude Observatories operated for almost a century. It's only been very recently that a connection with El Nino and the wobble has been found. The problem with the wobble is that it's not predictable as of 2007.
Alfred L. Loomis (wiki) got half a dozen of the Shortt precision pendulum clocks (Wiki) and discovered that they were effected by the Moon's gravity and was the first to publish this limitation of pendulum clocks (Wiki) in 1931. The book Tuxedo Park by Jennet Conant has details of that. Some details of the Moon and Sun gravity tides is on TVB's web page Lunar/Solar Tides and Pendulum Clocks. Also see Earth Tides and Lunar Ranging.
One of the first indications that "Continental Drift" (Wiki) existed was the form archeology (Wiki) in relation to Fossil Distribution (Hyper Physics). This evolved into tectonic plate motion.
I've tried to compile some information on who the astronomers have been here in Ukiah.
||1899 to 1903||Frank Schlesinger (Wiki)
||1903 to 907||Sidney D. Townley (Wiki)
April 10, 1867 - March 18, 1946
San Francisco Earthquake damage in Ukiah: 5:12 AM - April 18, 1906
Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics at Stanford in 1907 - 1946
charter member & Editor of
Seismological Society of America 1911 to 1929
||James D. Maddrill
Astronomy: Community, Careers, and Power,
1859-1940 By John Lankford, Ricky L.
"James D. Maddrill (1880 - ?) illustrates a unique form of failure. I know of no other case in which the doctorate (1907) was conferred before the dissertation had been completed. Just how Maddrill convinced William Wallace Campbell and the graduate dean at Berkeley to enter into such an arrangement is unclear. In any case, Maddrill assumed the post of director of the Ukiah International Latitude Observatory with a Ph.D. but still had to complete the dissertation in astronomical spectroscopy. Campbell continually put pressure on Maddrill, who responded with excuses that included physical and mental illness as well as the distraction of a failed love affair. Maddrill apparently made little progress and in 1912 left Ukiah for Berkeley where he hoped to complete his theses. It is not clear whether this was ever done. At all events, Maddrill's astromonical career came to an end and he disappeared from view."
|4||1912 to 1922
||U. F. Meyer
||1922 to 1946
||Leonard F. Caouette
star pairs observed (1611 in Gaithersburg)
|N 39:08:12.51||W 77:11:55.85||Gaithersburg, Maryland||USA|
|N 39:08.3||W 84:25.4||Cincinnati, Ohio||USA||too close to Gaithersburg to be of much value, closed early in the program|
|N 39:08:14.26||W 123:12:42.54||Ukiah, California||USA|
|N 39:08.1||E 141:07.9||Mizusawa||Japan||National
Institutes of Natural Sciences
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan Mizusawa VERA Observatory
|N 39:08.0||E 66:52.9||Kitab||Uzbekistan|
|N 39:08:13.76||E 8:18:41.90||Carloforte||Italy|
The wobble is on the order of 30 feet. A rule of thumb is that one arc second of angle change along a line of constant longitude (i.e. changes in latitude) is about 100 feet, then the total magnitude of the wobble is about 0.3 arc seconds. It would be good to measure at least to 10% of the thing being measured or better 1% so the accuracy of the final measurement should be on the order of 0.03 or better 0.003 arc seconds. If many measurements are made and then averaged the improvement goes as the square root of the number of readings. Until I learn more about how the measurements were post processed it's hard to say how good an individual measurement needs to be.
To check plate tectonics in say 1965 there would be 66 years of data. If observatories were moving 2 inches per year then in 66 years there would be a change of about 132 inches or 11 feet. Since 11 feet is in the same order of magnitude as 30 feet plate motion should be detected and it's direction determined. This would require that the observed transit times be converted into Lat and Lon.
Unpacking (UP Fig) figures in order taken. Photos by
|UP Fig 1 as installed by the movers the
mount is not positioned with the axis of the ways left
right in this photo
The microscope to read the vernier scale (Wiki) is missing.
Blue shrink wrapped package in background is the sidereal pendulum clock. Not unwrapped yet, will be in interpretive building.
|UP Fig 2 marked: J. Wanschaff, Berlin
||UP Fig 3 The target building as seen from
|UP Fig 4 top of the mount with the "Y"
supports typical of a transit instrument (Wiki).
Note a surveyor's Wye level (description
on external page) has a provision to remove the
telescope tube from it's mount and reinstall it
reversed. This allows canceling some errors thus
making a more accurate measurement. I'm sure this
was done here too, probably at initial alignment and maybe
once every so many years for alignment checks.
||UP Fig 5 telescope tube
||UP Fig 6 telescope tube
|UP Fig 7 Light house. attaches to
||UP Fig 8 Light house. opening for
lamp. Thumb nut at top holds parabolic reflector.
I've heard that this electric lamp housing replaced a similar one that used Calcium Carbide in Observatories where there was no electricity. But Ukiah had electricity from the beginning so didn't use that one.
|UP Fig 9 Hole in shaft for light from
lamp house. Threads for counter weight.
|UP Fig 10 "Y" support on left has
slot allowing up/down adj.
"Y" support on right is solid metal.
|UP Fig 11 Arm on right has adjustment screw
for zenith angle adjustment. One vernier microscope
holder is installed, but the opposite holder is missing,
but it's 2 mounting screws are there.
||UP Fig 12 Counter weight
|UP Fig 13 counter weight. Don't know
what the two thumb screws are for.
||UP Fig 14 terminals on counter weight for
lamp house wiring
||UP Fig 15 striding level. The 4 rods
that trap the striding level are missing.
|UP Fig 16 striding
||UP Fig 17 striding level shown on telescope
||UP Fig 18 target building
|UP Fig 19 Behind door of target building,
hinged sheet metal panel at top closed.
||UP Fig 20 Sheet metal panel opened showing
place holder wooden target bar.
||UP Fig 21 Roll-Off roof observatory
|UP Fig 22 heating/cooling unit in
||UP Fig 23 Target bar in interpretive
building after unpacking
Both targets can be independently adjusted to precisely match the telescope offset.
|UP Fig 24 right target
It's not clear why the left positioning bolt is retracted.
Maybe after the target bar was removed someone was making measurements or ???
|UP Fig 25 left target
||UP Fig 26 Target bar sitting in target
Mystery vertical slit in the sheep metal. It was copied from the original vertical slit see UP Fig 35 below
|UP Fig 27 close up of target building.
Since there's no hole in the top of the sheet metal the roof vent probably was to cool the building rather than vent fumes from an open flame.
|UP Fig 28 eyepiece end of telescope tube,
missing filar micrometer. (Wiki)
||UP Fig 29 Vertical circle. vernier
microscope holder present, but the reading microscope is
||UP Fig 30 Rotating the mount to align
the "Y" axis.
|UP Fig 31
Rotating the mount to align the "Y" axis.
||UP Fig 32 Donated Equatorial mount (Wiki)
for another scope.
||UP Fig 33 Target (Meridian) building seen
from properly rotated mount.
|UP Fig 34 Target building seen from
properly rotated mount.
Note telescope can be aimed horizontally at target then rotated 180 degrees in azimuth and 180 degrees in elevation and look at the other target.
|UP Fig 35 The origional target house sheet
||UP Fig 36 Pétanque
court between the observatory and Observatory Ave.
Redwood Empire Boules Club (UDJ article)
|UP Fig 37
The wheels are spring loaded, tension adjusted by screws below.
Note screw in slot showing limit of motion.
|UP Fig 38
View from above. Vernier microscope holder as about 7:00.
Two screw holes for another vernier microscope holder at about 2:00.
|UP Fig 39
The pully in center locks (CW) or unlocks (CCW) azimuth movement.
|UP Fig 40 3 of 7 package stickers
||UP Fig 41 4 of 7 package stickers
||UP Fig 42 azimuth locked CW
|UP Fig 43 azimuth locked CCW
Knob at bottom center drives radial rod and clamps circle.
Works like clamp knob on vertical circle.
Knob above clamp knob is select/release (about 90 deg motion) for latches at 0 and 180 degrees.
|UP Fig 44 Close up of striding level scales
Hard to photograph, see UP Fig 49
|UP Fig 45 Wiring for meridian (target)
(Wiki: Knob-and-tube wiring) 1880 to 1930.
|UP Fig 46 vertical circle missing two
levels. The central knob/pulley does not want to
Maybe because scope is resting on circle. Try again when on mount.
|UP Fig 47 Counterweight
It was thought that it was a box and that the two thumb screws allowed opening the box to change the internal weights. But that's not the case, the weight is a single part.
The cover seems to only be a holder for the electrical terminals and maybe the removable plate was made in
different weights as a fine adjustment for balance?
|UP Fig 48 counter weight
|UP Fig 49 striding
one division is 2.2 arc seconds.
It's not yet clear how the controls are used on the vertical
|UP Fig 50 The 2 sensitive levels are
level mounts are way off level.
|UP Fig 51
||UP Fig 52
|UP Fig 53 There is
a Vernier scale for focus or to set scale scale factor for
the filar micrometer?
45 degree angle for pirsm (or mirror).
|UP Fig 54 The Vernier scale on both the
vertical circles is very faint.
Holder for scale viewing microscope is empty.
Magnifying glass and 45 deg reflector to light scale.
|UP Fig 55 Large handle loosens cap, you can
see the gap.
This allows moving the levels but not the telescope.
Notice holes in outer telescope tube for cooling.
Level mounts rotated to closer to level.
|UP Fig 56 This is a
fine control of the vertical angle of the telescope.
||UP Fig 57 Are the grooves the support
wheels run in
because of wear or were they put in from the beginning.
The roller on the right is jammed in the up position and is
tipping the horizontal axis to the left. That's why the adjusting
arm on the right has it's lower end to the right of where it should be.
|UP Fig 65 Eyepiece hole (no eyepiece) but
with close focus
lens engaged as used to look at meridian targets.
|UP Fig 66 Eyepiece
hole (no eyepiece) but with close focus
lens disengaged as used to look at stars. This way no change is needed to any of the star viewing settings.
|UP Fig 61 Main clamp. Knob on back side
moves the central
rod to clamp telescope to horizontal axis. Once clamped screw allows adjusting angle.
There's a similar rod and clamp knob for the horizontal circle.
|Fig 73 Adjustment bolts at right top and
against each other to control height of Wyes on one side
to match height of Yye on other side.
|Fig 70 Left side support wheels
The marker screw is at bottom of slot, but wheel is holding
axle up off of Wye. Needs adjustment.
|Fig 71 Right side support wheels
Bottom screw not run in to take up more weight, yet.
The Striding Level is used to adjust the three feet of the
mount to plumb the mount. Done by rotating the telescope.
The horizontal circle zero is set by sighting the North star
(Wiki) at a time when it's true north. This happens at two
times each day that are 12 sidereal hours apart.
There's a good chance that it can be done in the daytime.
The horizontal motion stops need to be set so that the scope is
in the North - South meridian when at either stop by sighting
the North Star at the correct time.
Then the meridian house targets need to be adjusted so that they are each on the meridian. Once this is done the horizontal circle is typically not read, the scope is used either to the West or to the East of the pier at a stop.
To make a horizontal move the clamp screw is loosened.
See UP Fig 16 for the knob at the top
center of the mount. The scope rotated 180 degrees.
So the procedure to move to a new star would be to:
Stars are measured in pairs where one star will be on the North
side of the zenith and the other will be on the South side of
There is two ways to do it, for example the star that's North of the zenith could be measured with the telescope on the East or the West of the pier and the other star in the pair measured by rotating the scope 180 degrees about the vertical axis.
Is it always done the same way or done differently on different
These photos were taken at the time the telescope was being
packed in order to ship it to the Smithsonian for storage.
From the Estate of David Pettey, Ukiah Latitude Observer 1972 to 1982
|1982 Fig 1 "Zenith telescope in use at
Ukiah, Calif. Pier is protected from accidental
disturbance by a wooden casing."
SPDT knife switch near electrical box.
What does it do?
In later photos appears to be an on/off switch,
which would be for lamp house.
|1982 Fig 2
||1982 Fig 3 Note plumbers tape holding
near eyepiece. What is it?
|1982 Fig 4
||1982 Fig 5 Wiring for lamp house
Recording thermometer (barometer?) at left on wall.
|1982 Fig 6 List of star pairs
So far I have not been able to get this list.
|1982 Fig 7
||1982 Fig 8
||1982 Fig 9
|1982 Fig 10 Note vernier reading
||1982 Fig 11 Rods form cage around striding
||1982 Fig 12 Mount, after scope removed.
|1982 Fig 13 Note: (metal?) disks where
Bakelite on/off switch for lamp house.
Mount on floor at right.
Fig 49 Striding Level
one division is 2.2 arc seconds.
Fig 64 Striding level numbers every 10 divisions.
bubble is 33 divisions long
This is the most sensitive level and sits at right angles to the vertical axis of the mount. It is used to plumb the vertical axis of the mount by adjusting the three leveling feet and rotating the mount about it's vertical axis.
Note that part of the calibration process is centering the bubble in the striding level relative to it's feet. This can be checked by turning the level 180 degrees and seeing if the bubble remains centered.
One division corresponds to about 2.2 arc seconds of angle.
Ref: Science, Vol XXIII, No. 593, 1913 pg 756 "The California Earthquake at Ukiah", by Sidney D. Townley. The last paragraph of this article mentions that the latitude levels have a sensitivity of 1.0 (with no units specified, but I'd assume that to mean 1 arc second per division, but that's strange since this pair of levels are smaller than the striding level.
This eyepiece coupled with the the pair of levels on the vertical circle are the key elements in making the star zenith angle measurement.
As of Feb 2015 we have not received this as well as a number of other items this size and smaller.
A method was developed to check the repeatability of the filar mechanism by taking readings on each division of the targets in the meridian house.
Photos of another filar micrometer courtesy of the City of Ukiah taken on the East Coast.
A Method for Determining the value of an average space of a latitude-level in terms of a micrometer-turn by Frank Schlessinger, 1901 shows that one micrometer turn is 40 arc seconds on angle. Based on meridian star observations and the telescope levels.
Fig EP 1 this one has a magnifying glass built in.
Photos of the Ukiah observatory show a hand held
Most clocks tell time based on the Sun, where at true Noon the
clock shows 12:00. A sundial would show some time within
plus or minus 15 minutes of the actual time because of the
Equation of Time (Wiki)
and because the sundial may not be located on the centerline of
the time zone.
Sidereal time is based on when a star (other than the Sun)
crossed the local meridian (Wiki)
at midnight. The rate of a clock telling sidereal time is
slightly faster than a clock telling civilian time. In the
case of a pendulum clock the rate can easily be set to sidereal
by moving the pendulum up from it's normal position. The
rate can be checked by noting that when a given star crosses the
local meridian should be the same sidereal time every
night. The location of a star (Wiki)
is specified by it's Right ascension (Wiki: RA)
and Declination (Wiki).
The RA can be specified as an angle between 0 and 360 degrees,
or as hours: minutes: seconds of sidereal time.
So the astronomers can regulate the rate of their clock by
checking what time each known star crossed the local meridian,
but also can set their clock because the right ascension of all
the stars they are looking at is known and
|Clk Fig 1 Face
Time shown: 19 hours (bottom hand), 12 minutes (long hand
off right side), 36 seconds (top hand).
|Clk Fig 3 Clock was shipped with pendulum
Might have been better to remove it for shipping.
an example of damage done by pendulum.
Two holes at left and right just above top of dial used to
anchor clock to wall.
|Clk Fig 5 The arm that couples the pendulum
to the escapement
appears to be bent.
|Clk Fig 6 Key still in shipping wrap.
||Fig 7 Clock on Wall
Pendulum has: main adjustable bob,
smaller adjustable lower bob,
Weight shelf near top with up/down adjustment.
Cage at bottom locks pendulum at center.
Exactly North of the zenith telescope are a pair of targets. They are sitting on a masonry pier that's about three feet on a side and four feet tall. The masonry is surrounded with a sheet metal box with a hole for each of the targets, a vertical slit between the targets (reason unknown) and a vent hole at the top which would be necessary for the carbide lantern which was the first light source, but not needed when they switched to an electric lamp.
The purpose of the targets is to zero the azimuth (North) direction. By using two targets the telescope can be set to North when it's on either side of the mount.
As seen from zenith telescope
Target bar sitting on bench.
There are two translucent scales with ruler marks.
Behind each scale is a light reflector at about 45 degrees to
back light the scales using either the early calcium carbide
lantern (Wiki) or the soon to be installed electric light in the center.
The sheet metal may be been there to prevent fires?
Original sheet metal box
Target bar sitting in house.
STA LAT LON ELEVATION STANAME
UKI 39.1372 -123.2106 0.199 Ukiah, NEIC
Is this the Latitude Observatory? The Lat is the same (39.1372 vs. 39.137294) so yes.
The USGS shows UKI as an open seismic station, probably a typo.
Station Azimuth Mark
|Meridian House (being restored)
Brick masonary pier under blue plastic.
PID - KT2010
Station Azimuth Mark
PID Reference Object Distance Geod. Az dddmmss.s KT2010 UKIAH MAGNETIC AZ MK 99.828 METERS 00000
NAD 83(1986)- 39 08 18.30181(N) 123 12 43.35939(W) AD(1984.00) 2 KT2024 UKIAH MAGNETIC RM 3 42.632 METERS 01959
KT2023 UKIAH MAGNETIC RM 4 31.887 METERS 02829
KT2025 UKIAH MAGNETIC A POINT 29.822 METERS 10237
KT2011 UKIAH LATITUDE 1925 41.413 METERS 13547
KT2001 UKIAH MUNICIPAL AIRPORT BEACON ON H APPROX. 3.0 KM 2223614.1
DB6008 UKIAH MAGNETIC RM 1 15.193 METERS 22349
DB6009 UKIAH MAGNETIC RM 2 15.925 METERS 30730
Some years ago the grounds were developed with a walking path
and native plant maze. On Saturday 31 Jan 2015 when there
to take photos of the unpacking of the telescope there were
maybe a dozen groups of from 1 to 4 people walking, walking
their dogs, exercising or playing Pétanque
(similar to Bocce ball Wiki)on the
|Palying Pétanque (Wiki)
every Saturday afternoon.
Redwood Empire Boules Club (UDJ article)
|Maze using native plants
Also see Google satellite view at top of page.
see Google satellite view at top of page.
|Office (Interpretative center) building
The so-called Horrebow-Talcott method fixed latitude "by observing differences of zenith distances of stars culminating within a short time of each other, and at nearly the same altitude, on opposite sides of the zenith.". Ref 5: Captain Albert E. Theberge, Albert. (2001) The Coast Survey 1807-1867 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Library.Explained in Topographic, Trigonometric and Geodetic Surveying: Including Geographic, Exploratory, and By Herbert Michael Wilson, 1912 J. Wiley & Sons 932 pgs.
By this method the latitude is determined by observing with a micrometer the difference between the nearly equal zenith distances of two stars which pass the meridian within a few minutes of each other, one north and the other south of the zenith. The Zenith telescope is set to the proper zenith distance for the first star with the bubbles of the delicate level, which is attached to the telescope, adjusted and read. After the star has been observed, the telescope is reversed on its vertical axis without altering the position of the level. The telescope can now be adjusted to point to the same zenith distance as used for the first star. Since the stations have nearly the same latitude, the same stars can be used at each, thus assuring homogeneous results.
From Popular Science Monthly, Vol LXXV, No. 5, Nov 1909.
Φ = ½(δn + δs) + ½(mn - ms)*R + ½(ln + ls) +½(rn - rs)
subscript s means to the south, and n to the north
Φ = latitude
δ = measured star declination from vertical circle
m = micrometer measurement
R = micrometer to angle conversion factor
l = reading of vertical circle levels
r = refraction correction as a function of telescope zenith distance
If the two stars are at exactly the same declination δ and the instrument is reversed without disturbing the pointing, then the m, l and r terms become zero and the latitude becomes δ star zenith angle.
Note the declination (Wiki) of a star is measured the same way as latitude. So for an observer on the equator looking at a star with zero degrees declination would look straight up, zenith angle of zero.
For an observer at 39 degrees North a star with a declination of 39 N would be straight up.
Need to determine how the vertical circle is calibrated. Is straight up zero or can it be set to 39:08?
In the same Popular Science article referenced above on the equation there is a discussion about the impact of weather and incomplete measurements.
Historically, averaged over all the observatories, on 46.5% of the nights there is good weather. The odds of all six observatories to have good weather on the same night is about one in a hundred.
When making a measurement on a given star if a mistake is made you can not turn back the sky and make the measurement again, it's a missed measurement.
Although Ukiah averaged about 60% of all possible measurements the other observatories were not that good and they averaged about 50%.
So the odds of measuring all the stars at all stations on the same might are about 1/4096. Estimated once every 20 years.
Twelve groups of stars (I to XII), each containing eight pairs total. Six latitude pairs not more than 24 degrees from the zenith and two refraction pairs about sixty degrees from the zenith were selected for observation. Eight pairs per group total. Each star in a latitude pair is within 16 minutes of arc and the refraction pairs are within 5 minutes of arc [Ref ASoP1899]. So the filar micrometer may have a range of plus and minus 20 minutes of arc?
The brightness (astronomical magnitude (Wiki, my magnitude web page) ranges from 4.0 to 7.4. Note the common navigation stars are much brighter (Wiki). The time interval between culminations vary between 4 and 16 minutes.
Ref: letter of 11 April 1947 from DOC to Miss Marian R. Marvin, Librarian, Ukiah Public Library.
fact check: 24 hours (1440 minutes) divided by [ (12 groups * (6 pair + 2 pair) *2= ] 192 stars = 7.5 minutes between stars on average.
As of Feb 2015 I'm still looking for the list, but did find out a little more about it from the article:
[Ref ASoP1899] Program for the International Geodetic Association for Observing Variations in Latitude by Frank Schlesinger, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Nov 20, 1899.
The refraction (Wiki) pairs allow determining if a anomaly is caused by refraction (the effect gets larger as a star gets closer to the horizon) and a parallax error which would be the same for observatories on opposite sides of the Earth.
0h - 2h
2h - 4h Nov 2
4h - 6h Dec 7
6h - 8h Jan 5
8h - 10h Jan 31
10h - 12h Feb 25
12h - 14h Mar 22
14h - 16h Apr 16
16h - 18h May 12
18h - 20h Jun 9
20h - 22h Jly 10
XII 22h - 24h Aug 14
The quality of dividing engines may have been a factor in choosing who made the telescope since the quality of the vertical circle is the prime specification for this telescope.
Both the horizontal and vertical circles can be read directly to 10 arc seconds. The filar micrometer increases the angular resolution maybe 100 times to 0.1 arc seconds.
In order to mark a ruler or protractor with divisions that are accurate some type of mechanism is needed to eliminate errors caused by variations caused by humans. Jesse Ramsden (Wiki) developed a dividing engine 45" in diameter with 2,160 teeth (6* 360) on it's circumference. In order to do that he also invented a screw cutting lathe using change gears custom made to the pitch needed. Note: A screw with notches filed into it was used to cut the big wheel. Then the big wheel was measured and corrected and then tested. Over a number of cycles of cutting and measuring the quality of the dividing engine was improved.
Note that the problem was getting a precise division of the circle that then could be used to mark other circles.
The photo at left is from the Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, July 1890.
It was in 1890 that the Ramsden dividing engine was donated to the Smithsonian.
The first 45" Ramsden dividing engine was made in 1775 and was capable of dividing to 1/2 minute (30 seconds) of arc.
As part of his award from the commissioners of longitude he made public his design not only for the dividing engine but also for the screw cutting lathe that was needed to make the dividing engine.
A Ramsden engine was used to improve the 8 foot radius scale on Halley’s 8-foot (radius) Iron Mural Quadrant at Greenwich.
That web page shows a lot of similarity with the latitude observatories.
As time went on the diameter of the circle needed to get a specified accuracy (say 1 arc minute for the 45" Ramsden engine, or 1 arc second for the 5" Wild T2 theodolite) has decreased with time.
But I still need to examine the dividing on the vertical circle of the zenith telescope to see how precisely it can be read. See Figures below.
UP Fig 58 Vertical circle has numbers every 5 degrees.
Large divisions every 1 degree.
Small divisions every 10 minutes.
The vernier divisions are 10 arc seconds each.
Filar micrometer to read finer angles.
UP Fig 60 Horizontal circle has numbers every 5 degrees.
Large divisions every 1 degree.
Short divisions every 10 minutes.
The vernier divisions are 10 arc seconds each.
Close UP of Vertical vernier
Marked 10 8 6 4 2 0 (minutes)
Each minute is divided into 6 parts
each of which is 10 seconds
Progress of Astronomy by William C. Winlock
In another article in the same 1890 report titled: Progress of Astronomy by William C. Winlock there's information about the Earth's latitude:
"The EARTH-Variat'ion of latitude.-The subject of the change of terrestrial latitudes, to which allusion has been made in previous reports, continues to receive considerable attention from astronomers and geographers. The following results have been obtained by Dr. Kiistner, in continuation of his former researches, from 7 pairs of stars at three different times of the year:
where dA represents the correction to the assumed constant of aberration. The direct inference from these figures is that in 7 months the latitude of Berlin decreased 0".44. Polkowa showed about the same time a similar change:
Epoch. Latitude of Berlin. 1884.32
+520 30' 16". 73-0.82dA 1884.70 16.96"+0.83dA
a decrease of 0".33 from 1884.70 to 1885.31.
Latitude of Polkowa
The general agreement of these results certainly calls for further investigation; and to test the matter Mr. Preston has been sent out by the U. S. Coast Survey, and Dr. Marcuse by the International Geodetic Commission, to Honolulu, which is at the opposite end of the earth's diameter from Berlin, and by simultaneous observations at these two stations it is hoped the question will be settled.
It is quite possible that the origin of the apparent change at Berlin in 1884-1885 is meteorological, a view to which Dr. Foerster inclined in bringing' the matter before the Association Geodesique in 1888. The whole question is, then, whether there are changes in the disposition of atmospheric strata sufficient to account for the facts observed, or the axis of rotation and the axis of inertia of the earth are not sensibly coincident.
A complete resume of the subject is given by M. Tisserand in the Bulletin Astronomique for 8eptember, 1890.
Mr. Ricco has experimented with a somewhat novel demonstration of the rotundity of the earth. At the observatory of Palermo, which is situated at a distance of 1-1/4 miles from the Mediterranean and 236 feet above sea level, a great number of photographs of the sun reflected from the surface of the water have been taken a few minutes after rising or before setting, and they show that the diameter in the plane of reflection is less in the reflected image than in the direct. This deformation is due to the fact that the surface of the water forms a cylindrical mirror, with axis horizontal and normal to the plane of reflection. The amount of the observed flattening accords well with that demanded by theory.
A back of the envelope calculation.
Vertical circle is about 9" diameter, 28-1/4" circumference.
There are small divisions every 10 minutes.
There are 21,600 (360 * 60) minutes in a circle, or
2,160 each 10' small divisions.
28-1/4" / 2,160 = 0.013" between small divisions.
Vernier scale (Wiki)
I think the length of the vernier scale is 10 degrees on the circle or 60 small (10 arc minute) divisions, or 600 arc minutes long. But a vernier scale divides the smallest division by the number of of divisions on the vernier so in this case 10 arc minutes (600 arc seconds) are divided into 60 parts or 10 arc seconds per division on the vernier.
The key idea is that a vernier divides the smallest division on the circle by the number of divisions on the vernier.
While the commonest vernier has 10 divisions, more can be used, 60 in this case. In the case of a full circle the vernier might be made to cover 1/2 or 3/4 of the circle resulting in much higher resolution, but how accurate would depend on the quality of the dividing engine. Also the more divisions in the vernier the longer it takes to read it.
The Dividing Engine in History -
This is a modern part of determining the period of the Earth's rotation as well as other astronomy. The idea is to measure the time it takes a pulse of laser light to go from the Earth based observatory to one of the retro reflectors on the Moon and come back.
It turns out that, just like the latitude observatory, great care is needed to make precision measurements. In the case of the lunar ranging the Earth's gravity tides that cause the ocean water level to move up and down also cause the bedrock at the top of mountains to move up and down (Wiki).
There are a couple of ways to measure the movement of the telescope used to make the lunar distance measurements:
1) precision GPS - but it also measures all the changes, not just the change due to earth time
2) a gravity meter, like that GWR that's used for the APOLLO system, allows correcting the telescope position to account for the earth's tide. Love Numbers (Wiki) are a measure of how stiff the Earth is at a given location and allow calculating how much it wall move as gravity changes because of the Sun, Moon, &Etc.
3449956Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation (APOLLO)
Force measuring instrument,Goodkind John M, Prothero William A, Jun 17, 1969, 73/382.00R, 73/514.18
Superconducting bearing for borehole and survey gravimeters,Robert L. Kleinberg, Douglas D. Griffin, Richard J. Warburton, Gwr Instruments, Apr 20, 1993, 310/90.5, 33/366.11, 324/346, 73/382.00R -
The Basics of Lunar Ranging
Wiki- Lunar Laser Ranging experiment
ScienceShot: Decades-Old Soviet Reflector Spotted on the Moon
While taking photos of the unpacking of the zenith telescope I discovered a donated mount (see UnPacking Fig 32 above). Martin Bradley posted photos of these parts on the Antique Telescope Society Yahoo Group photos section about 12 Jan 2014. Photo Courtesy of City of Ukiah
I have placed thumbnail photos Fig 1 to 19 from that posting below.
Photos York 20 and up I took.
Fig York 01
Very large eyepiece hole to accept filar micrometer
Fig York 02
Mount on Peir
Fig York 03
Filters for filar illumination
Fig York 04
T. Cook & Sons 1871
Fig York 05
Clockwork for RA drive
Fig York 06
Fig York 07
71 1/4" Focus
Fig York 08
Fig York 09
Fig York 10
Lower light is from EP hole.
Upper light is from 45 deg mirror.
Fig York 20 T. Cook & Sons 1871 mount
Fig York 21 T. Cook & Sons 1871
Fig York 22 pier for T. Cook & Sons 1871 mount
Fig York 23 telescope tube
Fig York 24 light from EP hole coming out filter
Fig York 25 degree wheel hours in roman minutes in numerals.
Fig York 26 "T. Cook & Sons 1871" mount
I'm putting this here because I'd like to see one of these at the Ukiah Observatory Park.1468973
The first one made by Garden Telescopes was the reflector version, but as of 2015 they are starting work on a version that can be configured as either a reflector or refactor. This is made from machined metal castings and is a work of art.
Reflecting telescope,Porter Russell W, Sep 25, 1923, 359/364 - Reflector (mirror)
Telescope, Porter Russell W, Dec 6, 1927, 359/429, 248/181.1 - Refactor(Lens)
Gailleo (Wiki) discovers the moons of Jupiter (Wiki) The idea that another planet can have moons violated Aristotle's cosmology (Wiki).1630
By measuring the Occultation (Wiki) of Jupiter's moon Io at different times of the year (different distances between the Earth and Jupiter) the speed of light (Wiki) can be calculated.
William Gascoigne (Wiki) sees a spider web inside a telescope where it's focused. He invented the telescopic sight. He also developed the filar eyepiece where a hair moved by a screw allows measuring the diameter of the image, or refining the angle the telescope was pointing. Note this filar eyepiece is different from the later and improved filar micrometer (Wiki).1666
PS In an earlier version of this web page I used the term filar eyepiece when I meant filar micrometer, now fixed.
Isaac Newton (Wiki) writes THE book on modern Optics (Wiki: History, Optics) (my web page on optics) and believes in a corpuscular theory (Wiki), i.e. light is made up of particles.1725
James Bradley (Wiki) tried to measure the distance to a star using stellar parallax (Wiki).1775
Note: At this time there was still debate about whether or not the Sun rotated about the Earth. Heliocentrism (Wiki) was still being questioned and stellar parallax was part of that debate.
But the dividing engine had not been invented and he could not make the measurement. But in the process he discovered the aberration of light (Wiki, Wiki).
To make the parallax measurement you need to observe a star at two times six months apart (with the Earth on opposite sides of the Sun) to get the longest baseline. The exact two days of the year depend on the location of the star.
The annual stellar aberration (Wiki) is given by:
k = Θ - Φ ~ v/c
k is the constant of aberration (20″.49552)
Θ is the arrival angle of the light
Φ is the declination of the telescope
v is the speed of the Earth in it's orbit around the Sun (29,780 m/s)
c is the speed of light (299,792,458 meters/second)
Jesse Ramsden (Wiki) invents the geared screw cutting lathe (Wiki) in order to make a precision screw to match a worm gear for a dividing engine. The 45" diameter engine has one tooth per minute of angle and a dial on the worm screw (Wiki) probably could be read to 10 seconds of angle.1838
By the end of the 18th century angles could be measured using Vernier scales on engine divided circles to 10 seconds of arc. Star positions could be further refined by using a filar micrometer to better than one arc second. Today we can measure fractions of a milli arc second (0."0001).
Friedrich Bessel (Wiki) measures the parallax of 61 Cygni (Wiki: RA 21h 06m 53.9434s, Dec +38° 44′ 57.898″ Note the declination) using a Heliometer (Wiki) which was designed to measure the diameter of the Sun, but also can make precise measurements of angles. Wiki says the Heliometer was better than a filar micrometer (Wiki) in handling atmospheric turbulence (Wiki), I don't understand why. Note the the "seeing" gets worse as the size of the telescope objective gets larger, so for telescopes under 6 inches seeing is not much of a factor, but for scopes over one foot diameter it's a real factor, so for Astrometry (Wiki) you don't want large diameter telescopes. Hence the 4" objective diameter of the Latitude Observatory telescopes.1845
James Clark Maxwell (Wiki) publishes his equations (Wiki) that describe electromagnetic radiation and treat light as a wave. The speed of light can be calculated from the permittivity (Wiki) and Permeability (Wiki) of the medium the light is traveling through. Since both these numbers were known for a vacuum the speed of light was calculated and checked against the then known value and it matched.1887
But there was a debate about the nature of light, was it a particle or a wave and there were experiments that gave both answers.
The Michelson–Morley experiment (Wiki) is published. They were trying to measure the speed of light in the aether (Wiki) but failed. They published their negative result (this takes a lot of guts to stand up and say you were wrong, even today).
Getting the constant of aberration to better than an arc second was critical. Also note the use of observatories at 35o 16' north and south to measure zenith distances. Note this is tied up with measuring the speed of light. It was not yet clear if light was a wave or particle. [Ref 3]
Dr. Kiistner reports a problem in that the latitude of his observatory is changing. [Ref 2]
Albert Einstein publishes the Special Theory of Relativity (Wiki: History, TOR)
1. Optics by Eugene Hect & Alfred Zajac, 1974, ISBN: 0-201-02835-2 - used for the Time Line
2. Progress of Astronomy by William C. Winlock, Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, July 1890
3. Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, July 1889
Michelson's Recent Researches on Light by Joseph Lovering pg 449 (Wiki) - Talks about various ways the speed of light had been measured. Michelson's early experiments used a revolving mirror, but had a flaw. The final experiment was done using a interferometer (Wiki).4. Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, July 1894 - contains a number of inetesting articles
"As late as 1872, Le Verrier thought that a new measurement of tbe velocity of light by Fizeau very important in tbe interest of astronomy; and in 1871, Cornu wrote that tbe parallllx of the sun, and hence the size of the earth's orbit, were not yet known with the desirable precision. In 1875, Villarceau made a communication to the Paris Academy on the theory of aberration. He says that the parallax of tbe sun by astronomical measurement is 8".86. Foucault's velocity of light combined with Struve's aberration makes the sun's parallax 8".86. Cornu's velocity of light gives the same result only when it is combined with Bradley's aberration, which differs from that of Struve by 0".20. Villarceau thinks that there is an uncertainty about the value of aberration on account of the motion of the solar system. 'In 1883, M. O. Struve discussed seven series of observations made by his father, Nyren, and others, with various instruments and by different methods, at the Observatory of Pulkowa. He was certain that the mean result for the value of aberration was 20".492, with a probable error of less than 1/100 of a second. This aberration, combined with the velocity of light as deduced from the experiments of Cornu aud Michelson, made the parallax of the sun 8".784; differing from the most exact results of the geometric method by only a few hundredths of a second. Villarceau proposed to get the solar motion by aberration; selecting two places on the earth in latitude 35o 16' north and south, and after the example of Struve, observing the zenith distances of stars near the zenith. The tangents of these latitudes are ± 1/SQRT(2) so tbat they contain the best stations for obtaining the constant of aberration, and the three components of the motion of translation of the solar system."
The article on pg 749 Geographical Latitude by Walter B. Scaife is about the non ideal characteristics of the Earth, not about a problem measuring precise values.
PS. There's an article about a tower by a guy named G. Eiffel and another by W.A. Eddy. 984 feet (300 meters) tall compared to the Washington monument at 555 feet.
On the Magnitude of the Solar System by William Harkness pg 93- luminiferous ether is mentioned as are the parallax of the Sun & Moon. Says 1639 was the introduction of the micrometer eyepiece. Angle measurements to better than 0".1 are needed for the parallax measurements.5. Tau Beta Pi - Wandering Pole, Wobbling Grid, 2016 by Trudy E. Bell (Home page)
Variation of Latitude by J.K. Rees, pg 271 -
"This was the state of the investigation when Dr. Kiistner, of the Berlin Observatory, published the results of his observations made in 1884-85. Dr. Kiistner undertook some observations for the trial of a new method for the determination of the constant of aberration. On reducing his observations he obtained resnlts which were not at all satisfactory. A careful examination of his work led him to make the announcement that the unsatisfactory valne for the aberration constant was due to a comparatively rapid, though very small, change in the latitude of the Berlin Observatory-" that from Augnst to November, 1884, the latitude of Berlin had been from 0.2" to 0.3" greater than from March to May in 1884 and 1885."
"The lecturer threw on the screen illustrations of several forms of zenith telescopes, and described the new form made by Wanschaft; of Berlin."
A history of the latitude observatories along with a number of the people involved (and their portraits).
Flickr - survey marker photos -
National Parks Service - Astronomy and Astrophysics - Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory -
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) -
Gaithersburg International Lattitude Observatory - Wendy Woodland
Martin Bradley - The person most responsible for saving the observatory - photo sequence of THE oak tree with star background - Telescope used in Ukiah -
Paul K - Photos taken during 30 May 2009 tour of buildings.
California's First Observatories. By Peter Abrahams. Ukiah observatory had determined it's latitude and published it in 1897.
Flamsteed Astronomy Society -
NWAC - Precision Regulator Clocks Gallery - Strasser & Rohde
Popular Science Monthly - Nov 1909 "The Shifting of the Earth's Axis" by Dr. Sidney Dean Townley (Stanford univ) - mentions Euler's formula of 1765 giving a 306 day period if the Earth was rigid. The actual period is more like 427 days. But the axis does not repeat period to period. As a possible explanation:
"Ah see by de papers dat de urf's axis am a wobbling an' dey dunno wat fo'. But ah know wat makes de urf's axis wobble. Do you see all dis oil dese men am a takin' out of de urf? Well wat do you spose de good Lord put dat oil in dere fo'? Wy to grease de axis wif, of course, an' when dey take it all out, wat else can de axis do but to wobble." Attributed to a Preacher in the oil region of Texas, but probably the Townley's humor.
39315 Altitude Instrument, March 29, 1881, S.C. Chandler, Jr. - aka Chronodeik or Almucantar - a telescope coupled to a pendulum so that it points straight up.
"The Observatory" of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1899 (Vol XXII) - pg 445 - Book Review "A Treatise on Instruments" published in German 1899 mentions the Chronodeik is in the book along with typical data.
The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System - The Astronomical Journal - No. 1180 page 219 " - report for year: 1 Jly 1948 - 30 Jun 1949
Systems for the Determination of Polar Motion, May 1977, NOAA - Continuing the Lat Obs operations mainly as astronomical & navigational reference frame also may link to/from earthquakes. Plan to continue for 50 or 100 more years. In 1898 the International Geodetic Association (IGS) created the International Latitude Service (ILS) (the name changed in 1962 to International Polar Motion service (IPMS)) of 6 stations all located at 39:08 North to observe 12 groups of 12 stars. Later the stations at Cincinnati dropped from the service and Tchardjui was replaced by Kitab. Gaithersburg was non operational from 1916 to 1932, but Misuzawa, Ukiah, and Carloforte gave almost uninterrupted service. Also starting in 1962 more observatories were added at various latitudes bringing the total to about 50 observatories observing not only stars but also the Moon, artificial satellites and quasars using optical, laser and radio methods.
The observatory locations given in this paper differ from those shown above probably due to the reference frame used. The paper was pre global navigation and GPS so used an older less accurate country specific reference frames.
The National Museum of American History - Wanschaff Zenith Telescope
Theory of the Motions of Rigid Bodies 1765 Euler (Wiki: Euler angles)
Yahoo Group: Antique Telescope Society - web page: Antique Telescope Society
Stellar aberration due to the orbit of the earth (around the sun) = 20.5 arc seconds, around the Earth = 0.32 arc seconds.
Frank Schlesinger testing of automatic Zenith Camera at Allegheny Observatory
Special thanks to the Mendocino County Historical Society and the Held Pouge Library
Notes on Polar Alignment Methods - Observatory Class Telescopes -


Proper nutrition is important for the functioning and growth of the brain in children. The children mental health is very important through their life in order to lead a happy and successful life. We the parents are very much responsible for your child brain development. And the food plays a vital role in overall development of your child and not only the genes.
The years at early stage are critical for brain development, and what they eat affects focus and cognitive skills.
The following foods can help children’s brains stay active all day long and stimulate their brain development.
Eggs are a great source of protein. Egg yolk is rich in choline, which helps boost memory power.
You can give egg in any form like hard boiled eggs or omlette or scrambled egg. Everytime you give change the form because some kids get bored.
Egg rice for kids
Muttai dosai / egg dosa
Mixed veg omelette
2. Whole grains
Whole grains such as rice, whole wheat and millets are rich sources of glucose. They are ideal foods for brain health as the brain needs a regular supply of glucose. Whole grains also contain vitamin-B complex, an essential nutrient for a healthy nervous system.
Giving whole grains as a snack to school is a good idea as it keeps them full for longer. Any kind of Sundal is good and it has lot of health benefits. But some picky eaters totally avoid eating any kind of Sundal or millets for them you have to think out of box. Giving the good things in a modified way would be beneficial. Check some of my recipes.
Karamani rajma vada
Millets masala vada for evening snacks
Kambu dosa / pearl Millet dosa
Kambu masala vada
Spinach is rich in folate, which enhances the functioning of the nervous system. Greens are also an important source of vitamins and minerals.
Most of our children avoid eating spinach, even we doesn’t like but doing it in different way everyone can enjoy eating. Check some of my keerai recipes. And try to include it in at least one day in a week.
Manathakali keerai poriyal
Murungai keerai poriyal
Drumsticks leave poricha kuzhambu
The fatty fish like salmon are an excellent source of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA. These fatty acids are essential for brain growth and functioning, especially during exams. Giving omega-3-rich foods for children is good for brain functionality. “The more omega-3s we can get to the brain, the better it will function and the better kids will be able to focus.”
Vanjaram Fish fry
Vanjaram Fish kuzhambu
Mathi meen kuzhambu
Sankara meen kuzhambu
Oats provide excellent energy which serve as fuel for the brain in the morning. Having oats for breakfast keeps the child’s brain energetic throughout the forenoon session at school. Being a good source of vitamin E, B-vitamins, potassium and zinc, oats helps the body and brain to function at full capacity.
Oatmeal also helps keep the arteries of the heart and brain clear. Include it in your breakfast or dinner once in a while if you are bored eating always.
6. Nuts and seeds
Nuts and seeds are packed with protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Nuts improve brain functioning and keep your child’s nervous system healthy. Beans are excellent sources of protein, complex carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids. Having beans during lunch keeps a child’s energy and mental capacity at its peak all afternoon.
Sesame seeds ball
Wheat almond ladoo
7. Apples and plums
It is a good practice to pack fruits such as apples, plums and berries in children’s lunch and snack boxes. Memory-boosting foods like apples and plums contain quercetin, an antioxidant that fights decline in mental skills.
8. Milk and dairy foods
Dairy foods are generous sources of protein and B-vitamins, which are essential for the growth of brain tissue and neurotransmitters, and for the secretion of enzymes.
They are also rich in vitamin D, which is important for the maintenance of the neuromuscular system and the overall life cycle of human cells.
My daughter doesn’t like to drink plain milk so I give it in a kheer varieties.
Sheer kurma with milk and dry fruits
Meat is not only rich in protein, but also a good source of calcium. Red meat by itself is a good source of iron, which is a great food for memory.
For vegetarians, black beans and soya beans are good sources of iron.
10. Dark Chocolate
Are you craving a luscious way to keep your brain at its best? Reach for some dark chocolate. A study published in the Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews journal found that dark chocolate is a superfood due to its high levels of flavanols. These are special compounds that have been shown to help improve blood flow to the brain, which can increase cognitive function and memory. Another reason to feel good about enjoying dark chocolate is because it has an abundance of polyphenols. These are unique phytochemicals that have been shown to help reduce depression and anxiety. Just remember to choose dark chocolate with at least 70% cacao and try to indulge in no more than two squares a day. So now when you have some dark chocolate, remember that you’re also giving your brain a sweet treat.
Source : www.parentcircle.com


This is the website for EngComp 1552, a course taught by Prof. Annette Vee during Fall 2010 at the University of Pittsburgh.
In this class, we will explore what literacy is beyond simply reading and writing. We’ll visit literacy enacted in different contexts and historical periods to explore deceptively simple questions: What is literacy? How is it used in the world? As you consider what literacy is, you will encounter theories of how literacy is learned, how it is distributed across various populations, and how it has changed throughout history. We will be in theoretical as well as practical dialogue with others as we read literacy scholarship and talk with people about their literacy development and practices. My goal is for all of us to leave this class with an enhanced understanding of how we and others use literacy in the world so that we might better teach it and practice it in the future.


29 Feb amnesia
Forgetting what we once remembered, often in bulk. Amnesia is usually associated with some traumatic event in which the memory-access mechanism of the brain is damaged. It doesn’t typically mean that the memory has been “erased,” just that one can no longer read it. There are many documented instances of total amnesia and some of total recovery.


- We must deliberate now are the aesthetic standard change.
- Taoistic poems written by poets in the Taoist art tide, were abundant and ranked the top of poems by aesthetic standard in Yuan Dynasty.
- This article analyses the clothes in the Tang Dynasty in respect of the background of the time, the pattern, the color, the material of the clothes of the time and concludes that sexuality is the aesthetic standard of the clothes of the time.
- Abstract generality: The way of thinking, subject choice and aesthetic standard in Miao cultural sphere have strict regularity and are generally accepted by the people generation by generation.
- The ethnic mixtures occurred in Western China since the Northern Dynasty and the aesthetic standard of this region infiltrated the ideology, culture and custom of the people in the Tang Dynasty.


Over the past few months, Steve McQueen’s film 12 Years a Slave has reinvigorated a public conversation about the history of slavery in the United States. The film is probably the best cinematic representation of the complexity and brutality embedded in the North American slave system. The film recounts the real-life experiences of Solomon Northrup, a free Black man kidnapped into slavery for 12 years in 1841. Prior to the film, many, if not most, Americans were unaware of the abduction of free African Americans in the North. However, the kidnapping of free Blacks happened regularly enough that it posed a significant threat to the security of free Black communities, including ones in the South. According to Carol Wilson, free Blacks living in Pennsylvania, and Delaware, states bordering Maryland, faced the most danger. The proximity of these regions to the Mason-Dixon line facilitated kidnappers’ transportation of their victims to southern farms, plantations and urban centers. 1
While much has been made of the kidnapping of Solomon Northrup, the kidnapping of free Black children occurred more often than the abduction of free Black adults. Children were particularly vulnerable to kidnappers or “man-stealers” as they were easier to take than adults. 2 Children were less likely to have freedom papers on their person. Children also lacked the credibility of adults, even Black ones, and had a more difficult time convincing others of their free status. Children bound out to employers to contribute to the household income were often taken. Instead of releasing children back to their parents at the end of their labor agreement, some employers sold the children into slavery. Employers such as these took advantage of African American families and children made vulnerable because of poverty and their tenuous status as free Blacks. 3
Once sold into slavery, children often encountered physical (including sexual) and mental abuse at the hands of owners. Many of the children abducted into slavery grew up as slaves and never knew freedom again or were eventually emancipated as a result of the Civil War. Frankie Hutton has described free Black children as the “ultimate outsiders.” Disportionately orphaned and impoverished, many free Black children’s lives were made exponentially worse as victims of attempted and successful kidnappings. 4
McQueen slightly touches on the plight of children in 12 Years a Slave. Solomon meets Randall, the young son of Eliza, a slave woman who had been sold into slavery by her master’s (also her lover) angry daughter, in the slave pen where he is being held in Washington, DC. We see Randall calling for his mother and Solomon whispering harshly to him to be quiet, fearing physical reprisal for both himself and Randall. Although we only see Randall briefly in the film (he is later shown jumping at the behest of a slave dealer to demonstrate his health and vigor to a prospective buyer and then being separated from her mother as she is purchased), he and his sister’s image ask us to critically reflect on the lives of free Black children. The Antebellum Black Press offers one of the best opportunities do this.
The early Black Press played a major role in publicizing the kidnappings of free Blacks. It demanded that the United States government take steps to protect free African Americans. The very first Black newspaper, Freedom’s Journal featured and promoted “The Protecting Society of Philadelphia” an organization dedicated to eradicating the kidnapping of free Blacks. 5 Editor of the paper, Mirror of Liberty, David Ruggles served as treasurer as the New York Vigilance Committee, which was also founded for the purpose of fighting kidnapping as well as the detention of fugitive slaves.
The Black Press took great pains to publish information about free Black children seized by kidnappers. In doing so, the Black Press revealed just how vulnerable free African American children were in the North before the Civil War.
The same year that Solomon was kidnapped from Washington, D.C. an April 16, 1841 issue of the Colored American featured a letter from John Carter who recounted the kidnapping of Francis Jackson, a young boy from Pittsburgh. 6 According to Carter, the young boy was induced to leave with the kidnapper with the promise of attending the races. In an effort to try to locate the boy’s relatives or seek help, Carter gives the boy’s location and the name of the person who he had been sold to in Louisiana.
Northern Black newspapers were also concerned with kidnappings that occurred in slave states. Some newspapers like the North Star reported kidnapping stories from articles published in Southern newspapers. A May 4, 1849 issue related the abduction of three children, two boys and one girl from Caroline County, Maryland. 7 Hired out to cut corn stalks, the children’s employer, James T. Wooters kidnapped them and sold them to a slave dealer who carried them to Norfolk, Virginia.
Another North Star issue in 1851 documented the pervasiveness of child kidnapping in an excerpt of a letter reprinted from the anti-slavery newspaper, the Pennsylvania Freeman. 8 The letter writer described a “negro market” in Baltimore used to hold and sell free Black children, who by the writer’s account, had been enticed away from Philadelphia by “25 or more young men or rowdies.” Stressing the magnitude of these kidnappings, the writer states, “…from outward appearances here, they take into Slavery more every year than all the Anti-Slavery Societies take from it.”
Together these articles demonstrate the central role the antebellum Blak press played in making public the tenuous nature of freedom for all free African Americans. These papers remind us that as long as slavery existed in some measure throughout the United States, no African American could be free, despite the illegality of slavery in the North. Above all Black newspapers reveals the ways free Black communities sought to protect the most vulnerable members of their communities, Black children.
For additional information, see:
- Carol Wilson. Freedom at Risk: The Kidnapping of Free Blacks in America, 1780-1865. Lexington: University of Kentucky, 1994, 10-11. ↩
- Wilson. Freedom at Risk ,9. ↩
- Wilson. Freedom at Risk ,13. ↩
- Frankie Hutton. The Early Black Press in America, 1827 to 1860. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993, 129. ↩
- Freedom’s Journal. May 16, 1828. ↩
- Colored American. April 16, 1841. ↩
- North Star. May 4, 1849. ↩
- North Star. April 10, 1851. ↩


In Lisa Delpit’s book Other People’s Children, she gives future educators many ideas on how to “celebrate, not merely tolerate, diversity in our classrooms” (67). Specifically, she encourages role playing as a means to allow her students to feel more comfortable speaking Standard English while playing the part of someone else. How is her method allowing students to engage in the English language? What are the implications for involving students in this type of activity?
(Visited 296 times, 1 visits today)
This entry was posted in . Bookmark the permalink.


Some Prompts for Rhetorical Analysis - Kiefer Answer the following questions to help you begin your analysis of rhetorical context. The questions focus on the Reader, Essay, Audience, Limitations, and Motivation for the piece of writing. These questions should also help you think of others to extend your analysis. Interesting Writing Prompts For A Rhetoric Analysis Essay Rhetoric Analysis Essay Topics: 13 Suggestions For Students. For many students, writing a rhetoric analysis essay is a daunting task. On the other hand, choosing a topic for a rhetoric analysis is even more challenging. However, if you can understand what a 15. [The Rhetorical Analysis Prompt] | AP English ... - Educator
Writing Body Paragraphs for Advanced Placement English Language
For tossing fido in essay; premium quality sample literary analysis. Rhetorical Analysis Essay: Topics and Tips for College Students You don't which book or speech to pick for your paper? Check out our 15 rhetorical analysis essay topics as well as some basic AP writing tips! Rhetorical analysis essay guidance. « Essayfield.com To write such an essay, you should let your reader know, that this is a rhetorical analysis essay you present and to be able to do that, you need to have a clear vision what rhetorical essay is before getting started. ap lang rhetorical analysis essay prompt - Pujcka7ddw
Levina March 18, 2016 The article will need to achieve the answers on how to the art of a proper college papers for an analysis essay can help with writing a feb, a native english rhetorical analysis brings us define what is not so easy to…
Mastering how to write a rhetorical analysis essay from scratch? Check this guide with a rhetorical analysis example and writing techniques to practice. Rhetorical Analysis Essay Prompt – My Blog Hence your essay’s design is really exceptional into the important declare you’re making. Get full info on https://bestpethairvaccum.com/. Although there are regulations for crafting sure time honored essay choices (e.g. Rhetorical Analysis Essay (Definition, Thesis, Outline… In this video, we cover how to write a Rhetorical Analysis Essay by showing the definition, preparation tips, and an example outline. The definition mentione... Rhetorical essay topics - WISR 680 AM - Butler, PA Explaining ethos, does any problems with religion, grades, so we have any possible problems with writing your readers understand a rhetorical paper?
Romantic poetry essay prompt - Subform.cz | Fashion blog
Literary analysis essay prompts – Sherry Rehman If you claim with details from the following topics for writing, short answer questions, offered vague. City walmart swot analysis, topics! Receive The Most Affordable Rhetorical Analysis Essay Help
Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example on Ted Talk - Wr1ter.com
Literary analysis essay prompts – Sherry Rehman If you claim with details from the following topics for writing, short answer questions, offered vague. City walmart swot analysis, topics! Receive The Most Affordable Rhetorical Analysis Essay Help We employ cheap rhetorical analysis essay writers that provide quality work at a low price. However, you should not think that you will be getting a lower standard of work because our prices are so low. Analysis essays santa ana rhetorical winds Go to: cueing the reality that a Santa Ana wind was coming. Can i reuse my college essays Distributed Proofreaders. Analysis essays santa ana rhetorical winds.
However, if you struggle with analysis in a short period of time, memorizing these categories of examples ahead of time can give you a helpful checklist to go through when reading the SAT essay prompt and point you in the right direction. Rhetorical Analysis Definition and Examples - thoughtco.com Rhetorical analysis may be applied to virtually any text or image—a speech, an essay, an advertisement, a poem, a photograph, a web page, even a bumper sticker. When applied to a literary work, rhetorical analysis regards the work not as an aesthetic object but as an


Epilepsy is a condition caused by a disturbance in the electrochemical activity of the brain. It is not a specific disease, but a group of symptoms that may be associated with several conditions. The returning seizures are characterized by combinations of psychic, sensory, and motor malfunction and may or may not be accompanied by convulsions or unconsciousness. There are several types of epilepsy, however the most common includes four categories: grand mal, petit mal, focal, and psychomotor seizures.
Characteristics and types of epileptic seizures
- The grand mal seizureis the most severe type of seizure. A grand mal seizure may be preceded by an "aura", or sensation of awareness, before the onset of a seizure. The individual loses consciousness and has a severe muscular contraction; then the rigidity of the muscles gives way to a jerking state. The individual may be incontinent during the seizure, salivate excessively and lose bladder control. The individual is usually exhausted after the attack.
- A petit mal seizureis quick and may last only a few seconds or minutes. The individual will appear to be staring in space and have a vacant look and no attention. Signs may be twitching around the eyes or mouth. The individual does lose consciousness but does not collapse. Children between the ages of 5 and 12 years are often affected by a petit mal seizure.
- A focal seizureis similar to the grand mal seizure. It is characterized by a loss of body tone and collapse. The individual will remain conscious during the attack, but speech may be impaired.
- A psychomotor seizureis characterized by purposeful motor and psychic behavior that is irrelevant for the time and setting and is not remembered. Often it is accompanied by hallucinations, which may be labeled as "bad behavior".
- Epilepsy usually will have little effect on an individual's ability to participant in aquatic activity.
- A swimmer with epilepsy [like any other swimmer] should never swim alone. Use the buddy system.
- Maintain close supervision during aquatic activity.
- Have the swimmer avoid holding his/her breath for a lengthy time.
- Scuba diving and Board diving need to be discussed with a physician.
- Monitor temperature of water. Hyperthermia is known to trigger seizures.
- Be cautious in highly competitive or emotional activities.
- If using outdoor pool, sunglasses or tinted goggles may be useful.
- Obtain a medical clearance that lists contraindicated activities.
- Be aware there are certain factors that trigger an onset, including:
- emotional stress
- strobe lights
- excessive caffeine
Lepore, M., Gayle, G.W. & Stevens, S. (1998). Adapted aquatics programming: a professional guide. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Auxter, D., Pyfer, J., & Huettig, C. (1997). Principles and methods of adapted physical education and recreation. St. Louis:McGraw-Hill.
This page was created by Marla Hooten,
Physical Educator in the Denton ISD Public Schools,
as part of a requirement in
Aquatics for Special Populations,
Texas Woman's University, Summer, 2000.
page last updated 1/2/2013 4:34 PM


Metadata provision and standards development at the Collaborative Digitization Program (CDP): A History
Keywords: Metadata, Standards Development, Cultural Heritage Institutions, Collaborative Digitization Program (CDP)
AbstractWhat began in 1998 as the Colorado Digitization Project is now known as the Collaborative Digitization Program (CDP), or CDP@BCR. The CDP’s Heritage West database represents not only the primary product of the organization, but also one of the oldest continuously-operating collaborative repositories of cultural heritage metadata in the country. As a basis for the author’s forthcoming quantitative and qualitative analysis of Dublin Core metadata in Heritage West, the following article offers a history of how the CDP has, over time, organized and managed the metadata provision for its digitization projects.
How to Cite
Cronin, C. (2008). Metadata provision and standards development at the Collaborative Digitization Program (CDP): A History. First Monday, 13(5). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v13i5.2085
Authors retain copyright to their work published in First Monday. Please see the footer of each article for details.


A Nation Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use of the Internet
Type of work: Report
NTIA is pleased to release Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide. This is our third report examining which American households have access to telephones, computers, and the Internet, and which do not. The “digital divide”— the divide between those with access to new technologies and those without — is now one of America’s leading economic and civil rights issues. This report will help clarify which Americans are falling further behind, so that we can take concrete steps to redress this gap.
Overall,we have found that the number of Americans connected to the nation’s information infrastructure is soaring. Nevertheless, this year’s report finds that a digital divide still exists, and, in many cases, is actually widening over time. Minorities, low-income persons, the less educated, and children of singleparent households, particularly when they reside in rural areas or central cities, are among the groups that lack access to information resources.


Jen Ptacek, Kirstin N. Dolick, and Marifran Mattson
Advocacy can be defined as the systematic process set in motion by an individual or group of individuals to encourage, support, and empower others surrounding a topic in need of change. Individuals may become an advocacy group in support of an issue, such as health care, civil rights, environment, or labor. Advocacy groups often serve as mediators between vulnerable/underprivileged populations and policymakers or decision-makers. The Health Communication Advocacy Model (HCAM) is a tested advocacy model comprising five phases including assembling the team, formative research, message development, message implementation, and evaluation. HCAM also includes a correction loop allowing for revisions of campaign messages. The HCAM is an adaptable model that offers a perspective in which advocacy groups may be considered a dynamic framework for building successful campaigns. Once the advocacy group is established, members can agree upon goals and responsibilities and craft a position statement. The group can then develop messages to reach the intended target audience(s). Target audiences may include legislators, the population affected by the issue, and media organizations. When crafting messages, care should be taken to ensure messages are stimulating, motivational, culturally consistent, resource contingent, and without barriers. Advocacy groups may use a number of channels to send messages through, such as social media, rallies, press releases, and other media outlets. Overall, advocacy groups must address a variety of needs to effectively reach the target audiences and impact change.
The concept of ambiguity tolerance (TA), variously called Uncertainty Avoidance, Ambiguity Avoidance, or Intolerance, can be traced back nearly 70 years. It has been investigated by many different types of researchers from clinical and differential, to neuro- and work psychologists. Each sub-discipline has tended to focus on how their variable relates to beliefs and behaviors in their area of expertise, from religious beliefs to reactions to novel products and situations.
The basic concept is that people may be understood on a dimension that refers to their discomfort with, and hence attempts to avoid, ambiguity or uncertainty in many aspects of their lives. There have been many attempts to devise robust and valid measures of this dimension, most of which are highly inter-correlated and require self-reporting. There remains a debate as to whether it is useful having just one or more dimensions/facets of the concept.
Using these tests, there have been many correlational studies that have sought to validate the measure by looking at how those high and low on this dimension react to different situations. There have also been some, but many fewer, experimental studies, which have tested very specific hypotheses about how TA is related to information processing and reactions to specific stimuli. There is now a welcomed interest by neuroscientists to explore the concept from their perspective and using their methodologies.
These studies have been piecemeal, though most have supported the tested hypotheses. There has been less theoretical development, however, of the concept attempting to explain how these beliefs arise, what sustains them, and how, why, and when they may change. However, the concept has continued to interest researchers from many backgrounds, which attests to its applicability, fecundity, and novelty.
Dani Filc and Nadav Davidovitch
The medical encounter is one of the most important channels of communication between the patient and his or her caretaker. Apart from its therapeutic effect, the medical encounter serves to convey information about a symptom or disease; construct a diagnosis and give information about the expected course of a disease (“prognosis”); and discuss treatment plans, including risks and benefits. The centrality of the medical encounter makes ethical considerations fundamental, not only within the clinical context but also within the broader context of health promotion. Furthermore, since the medical encounter is characterized by asymmetry and dependence, it can create problems of abuse of power or subordination. The current dominant liberal bioethical approach tends not to take into account the power relations within the medical encounter, or the social context in which the medical encounter takes place. It is in this sense that a republican egalitarian approach to bioethics can be of use. Instead of traditional bioethics emphasis on the individual and on personal autonomy, a radical egalitarian health rights approach will stress the importance of social structures, and the need for a different institutional framework that works toward making a universal right to health possible. Such an approach also emphasizes the centrality of politics in building adequate institutions and in modifying those social structures that cause inequities in health. These considerations have important consequences on how the medical encounter should be constructed, such as in the case of conveying risk and disclosing medical errors.
Roxanne L. Parrott
Health and risk policymaking focuses on decisions made and actions undertaken to set standards and pass laws to promote healthcare and public health quality, while achieving global health security. Policymakers in governments and institutions deliberate for the purposes of achieving effective and efficient policies, revealing both acceptance and rejection of evidence from health and risk, prevention, and economic sciences, as well as gaps in these domains. Health and risk communicators function implicitly within the boundaries of these decisions and actions, while contributing to prevention science related to strategic messaging and information dissemination. Policymakers face barriers to their efforts residing in the sheer volume of health and risk sciences research; the lack of evidence demonstrating that policies lead to intended outcomes (often, because a policy has not been trialed/implemented); and the absence of economic analyses associated with costs of interventions proposed and undertaken. The precautionary principle (PP) based on adopting caution when evidence is absent, uncertain, or ambiguous regarding possible harm to humans or the environment may function as a guide in some situations. Advocates may draw attention to particular issues in other cases. Policies may be stalled owing to the policy context, including election cycles, legislative and institutional bureaucracies, competing agendas, and fragmented systems of healthcare. Health and risk communicators may collaborate with policymakers and work to translate evidence into useful formats to facilitate the application of evidence to policymaking decisions and actions.
Amy E. Chadwick
Hope has been defined in primarily two ways, and both have implications for message design within health and risk communication. First, hope has been defined as a way of thinking, or disposition, that affects how people pursue goals. Dispositional hope manifests in beliefs about one’s capacity to initiate and sustain action toward goals (agency) and one’s ability to generate ways to reach those goals. Dispositional hope has been associated with positive physical and mental health outcomes. For example, high-hope women have greater intentions to engage in cancer prevention behaviors than do low-hope women. Numerous studies have associated higher hope with better pain management, and people who are higher in hope have a greater pain tolerance than people lower in hope. Hope is also related to better psychological adjustment.
Much of the research on dispositional hope focuses on correlating hope with a variety of positive health and non-health outcomes; however, psychotherapeutic interventions have also been designed to increase dispositional hope. These interventions have shown improvements in health-related outcomes. Although their potential is not yet realized, interventions for developing dispositional hope could improve compliance with medical recommendations, increase adoption of health behaviors, and decrease risk behaviors.
The second way that hope has been defined is as a discrete emotion. Discrete emotions are brief, intense, psychological, and evaluative reactions directed at external stimuli (e.g., people, events, or objects). In response to these external stimuli, emotions help individuals adapt to their environment by activating a unique pattern of thoughts (cognitions), physiological changes, subjective feelings, motor expressions, and action (or behavioral) tendencies.
Lazarus’s cognitive-mediational theory has been one of the most influential theories of discrete emotions that includes a definition of hope. Lazarus identifies the core relational theme of hope as “fearing the worst but yearning for better.” Lazarus deems hope to be a problematic emotion because he believes hope contains both positive and negative elements. Despite uncertainty about the exact nature of hope, Lazarus believes that hope is vital to coping with stress. Hope enables people to believe in the possibility of better circumstances and therefore is critical as a coping mechanism against despair. Lazarus does not provide guidance for what a message might need to include to evoke hope.
Drawing on Lazarus and appraisal theories in general, MacInnis and de Mello suggest tactics that consumer marketing advertisements could use to induce hope. Specifically, the authors focus on turning “impossibility into possibility” and enhancing “yearning.” De Mello and MacInnis also theorize that hope can lead to motivated processing of information resulting in both positive (e.g., coping, well-being, and goal achievement) and negative (e.g., risky behavior, self-deception) outcomes. Unfortunately, the theorizing of de Mello and MacInnis was never empirically tested.
To further explore how feelings of hope are created, Prestin examined underdog narratives in entertainment media. Underdog narratives show characters who are attempting to meet a goal despite unfavorable circumstances and odds. These narratives evoke hope and make people more motivated to meet their own personal goals. Although their potential has not been fully explored, underdog narratives may assist individuals in overcoming challenging circumstances, such as battling addiction or developing new health habits. There are numerous mechanisms still to be examined that may explain the effects of underdog narratives beyond their ability to evoke hope.
Recently, Chadwick defined hope as a future-oriented, discrete emotion that focuses on an opportunity to achieve a desired future outcome. Her definition builds on the work of Lazarus and Roseman and has implications for the design of messages that evoke hope. According to Chadwick, hope is evoked by appraisals of a future outcome as (a) consistent with goals (goal congruence), (b) possible but not certain (possibility), (c) important (importance), and (d) leading to a better future (future expectation). All four of these appraisals combine to create a perception of opportunity and the discrete emotion hope. Hope motivates behavior by focusing one’s thoughts on capitalizing on an opportunity. Chadwick states that hope also involves (a) an approach action tendency that motivates individuals to take, or continue, action to achieve the desired outcome, (b) increased heart rate and skin conductance, (c) an open facial expression, heightened focus, and alert body posture, and (d) a feeling of eager attention.
Chadwick’s definition has clear implications for developing messages that evoke hope. Messages designed to create appraisals of the importance, goal congruence, positive future expectation, and possibility of a future event evoke hope and are called hope appeals. Like other theoretical explications of emotional appeals, a hope appeal has two components: (a) the inducement of hope through the presentation of an opportunity and (b) the presentation of recommended actions to achieve the desired outcome. The recommended actions component includes information designed to (a) increase the receiver’s perception of his or her ability to perform the recommended action (i.e., self-efficacy) and (b) demonstrate the ability of the recommended actions to achieve the desired outcome (i.e., response efficacy).
Empirically, scholars have tested the effects of hope and messages that evoke hope. Hope appeals increase attention to messages about climate change and increase mitigation behavioral intention and mitigation behavior. In addition, feelings of hope increase interest in climate change protection and are positively correlated with pro-environmental behaviors and support for climate change policies. Feelings of hope significantly predict interest in climate protection, self-efficacy, interpersonal communication intention, information seeking intention, and behavioral intention. Hope and hopeful narratives have also been associated with greater perceived message effectiveness and more agreement with the message content. After a stressful experience that accelerates heart rate, evoking hope decelerates heart rate and decreases state anxiety. This research provides evidence that messages that evoke hope can counter the psychological and physiological effects of stressful events. In addition, researchers have examined the effects of hope on a variety of health, persuasion, political communication, and marketing outcomes. Preliminary evidence indicates that hope appeals are equally as or more effective than guilt and fear appeals at increasing interpersonal communication intention, self-efficacy, information seeking intention, and behavioral intention. In addition, hope appeals create less reactance (anger) than fear appeals. Together these results indicate that hope and hope appeals have substantial potential to influence health and risk behavior.
This article discusses the various ways in which political concerns among government officials, scientists, journalists, and the public influence the production, communication, and reception of scientific knowledge. In so doing, the article covers a wide variety of topics, mainly with a focus on the U.S. context. The article begins by defining key terms under discussion and explaining why science is so susceptible to political influence. The article then proceeds to discuss: the government’s current and historical role as a funder, manager, and consumer of scientific knowledge; how the personal interests and ideologies of scientists can influence their research; the susceptibility of scientific communication to politicization and the concomitant political impact on audiences; the role of the public’s political values, identities, and interests in their understanding of science; and, finally, the role of the public, mainly through interest groups and think tanks, in shaping the production and public discussion of scientific knowledge. While the article’s primary goal is to provide an empirical description of these influences, a secondary, normative, goal is to clarify when political values and interests are or are not appropriate influences on the creation and dissemination of scientific knowledge in a democratic context.
Paul W. Speer and Leah Marion Roberts
Agents of change serve as catalysts for stimulating social change, particularly at community and societal levels of analysis. We often think about the characteristics of individuals who act as change agents, such as their capacity to motivate others or their training skills. However, organizations and disciplinary fields can also serve as agents of change. There is an emerging awareness in the fields of public health and community organizing as to how these respective fields can collaborate to leverage their collective insights and skills to become effective agents of change for community health outcomes. Importantly, while public health is concerned with the social determinants that shape health inequities in all communities, community organizing is focused on community issues that residents confront as constraints or problems in their daily lives. There is an inchoate understanding within the fields of public health and community organizing that the social determinants addressed in public health are often the same issues identified and addressed by community organizing groups.
Both disciplines work as agents of change through their traditional efforts; however, there is promise in the evolving collaborations between these two fields. Recognition that both fields are addressing the same community phenomena is an important step, but whether collaborations and shared practices become distributed and institutionalized is an open question. Public health possesses research and analytic sophistication capable of identifying different social determinants and the pathways through which such determinants contribute to poor community health outcomes. In contrast, community organizing supplies an understanding of social change that requires the exercise of power through the participation and active engagement by those most directly affected by local issues or social determinants. One tension in this emergent collaborative practice stems from the fact that, at times, these different disciplinary skill sets are at odds. Whereas public health has a deep value of data analysis and expertise, community organizing prioritizes the participation and self-determination of those impacted by community problems. Fundamentally, the tension here is between the value placed on expertise versus the value placed on public participation. Neither value is inherently superior to the other; understanding how these two values can complement one another to address social determinants that shape community health outcomes is critical for realizing the promise of these organizational agents of change.
Amber K. Worthington
Health risk messages may appeal to the responsibility of individuals or members of interdependent dyads for their own or others’ health using many different message strategies. Health messages may also emphasize society’s responsibility for population health outcomes in order to raise support for health policy changes, and these, too, take many different forms. Message designers are inherently interested in whether these appeals to personal, interdependent, and societal responsibility are persuasive. The central question of interest is therefore whether perceptions of responsibility that result from these messages lead to the desired message outcomes. A growing body of empirical research does suggest that there is a direct persuasive effect of perceptions of personal responsibility and interdependent responsibility on health intentions or behaviors, as well as indirect persuasive effects of responsibility on intentions or behaviors via anticipated emotions, specifically regret, guilt, and pride. Research also suggests that perceptions of societal responsibility increase support for public health policy (i.e., the desired message outcome in societal responsibility messages). Important to this area of research is a conceptual definition of responsibility that lends itself toward identifying specific message features that elicit perceptions of responsibility. Specifically, attributions of causation and solution, obligation, and agency are identified as effect-independent message features of responsibility.
Scientific advances, technological development, and changes in risk consciousness have led to stronger demands on society to manage and control various kinds of risks. Risks should be assessed, prevented, controlled, and communicated in order to prevent negative impacts. Risks related to the environment and health are probably some of the most research-dependent examples. It is primarily scientific experts that provide knowledge to authorities, organizations, and citizens about environmental and health risks and thus exert considerable influence on the understanding and management of risk. At the same time, there are actors in society—especially citizen and interest organizations—that question whether risk regulation is reliable and relevant. There are also demands that citizens should have more transparency and control over risk regulation. The current situation is characterized thus by a paradox: Issues relating to environment and health are seen as increasingly expert dependent while citizens simultaneously demand increased influence over them. This development is especially noticeable in the European Union, with its strong emphasis on the rights of citizen and consumers to have access to information about risk and also opportunities to influence their regulation.
In response to this situation, risk governance has been put forward. It refers to a body of ideas for how to more responsibly and efficiently deal with complex risks issues, where there are different interests and standpoints about how to regulate them. Fundamental ideas of risk governance are openness, transparency, participation, inclusion, deliberation, and reflexivity; that experts involved should be open to questioning the situation; should not conceal issues of uncertainty and pluralism (that there exist different legitimate understandings, evaluations, and recommendations); and should be receptive to the input and participation of other stakeholders. This means that risk regulation should no longer be organized into three discrete activities: risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication (aiming at a one-way transfer of knowledge from the regulators to the public).
The spiral of silence theory provides insight into the ways in which perceptions of public opinion can lead to changes in opinion expression behavior. Conceptualized in a political communication context, the central claim of the theory is that individuals’ fear of social isolation motivates them to continuously evaluate the climate of opinion through both experiences with the media and interpersonal communication. Upon assessment, individuals either find themselves in a situation where their opinion aligns with the majority or minority. Accordingly, those who find their opinion does not align with the dominant opinion are likely to conceal their opinions while those who find their opinion aligns with the majority are more likely to express them.
Empirical research testing the spiral of silence theory has predominately focused on measurement of focal variables and methods of empirical testing. Advances have been made in regard to micro-level factors, such as creating universally applicable measures of psychological attributes. However, limited work has explored macro-level factors, such as appropriateness of issues, application to computer-mediated communication environments, and tools used to identify circumstances vulnerable to spiral of silence effects. Nonetheless, the practical value of the spiral of silence theory for health and risk communicators can be utilized by modifying campaign efforts to anticipate and counteract fluxes in public opinion.


Ongoing El Niño spells disaster for the world’s coral reefs
Coral reefs have been described as the rainforests of the ocean. Harbouring almost a quarter of the world’s marine fish species, the reefs cover only 0.2% of the area of all the world’s oceans, making them a hotspot for biodiversity1.
Coral reefs are made of the primordial creature coral polyp, and the hard calcium carbonate skeleton it produces as waste. It has a symbiotic relationship with the microscopic planktonic organism Zooxanthellae that lives inside the coral. The algae is the coral’s main source of nutrients and hence is important for the health of the reef. However, the organism is sensitive to stresses such as changes in sea temperature – as little as a degree Celsius of change can cause bleaching. Coral reef bleaching occurs when Zooxanthellae are expelled from the coral, which eventually turns the colour to white, as they give colour to the reef. This causes the reef to shrink from a lack of nutrients, and eventually die2.
During extreme El Niños, mass coral reef bleaching occurs. Due to climate change, extreme El Niños are set to be twice as frequent, with the current El Niño giving way to the third mass bleaching event ever recorded, as it brings above average temperatures to a large reef bearing area. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admisistration predicts that 38% of coral reefs will experience bleaching this year, with 5% set to die completely, despite coral reefs being well known for their moderate resilience to bleaching events3.
The livelihoods of an estimated 6 million fishermen in 99 reef countries and territories are reliant on coral reefs. With degradation of the coral reefs from bleaching, the reefs can no longer provide coastal protection from wave erosion and tropical storms, which would affect many more people – in fact, the socio-economic impacts of the event would be highly negative for the locals, who rely on the reefs4. To minimise the biodiversity and socio-economic losses, a strategy must be put in place to reduce or eliminate as many stressors as possible. This could be done by implementing a curb on overfishing through no-take zones over vulnerable reefs, for example. With these measures, the chances of reef recovery is maximised, the security of many jobs and the safety of many coastal areas are maintained.5
Edited by Debbie Nicol
- Consisting of useful basic facts http://www.defenders.org/coral-reef/basic-facts
- Bleaching infographic http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html
- El Nino and how much it’ll affect the coral reefs https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28310-global-coral-bleaching-event-what-you-need-to-know/
- Socio-economic impact statistics http://coral.org/coral-reefs-101/coral-reef-ecology/coral-reef-biodiversity/
- Methods to maximise reef resilience http://www.reefresilience.org/coral-reefs/reefs-and-resilience/coral-reefs-coral-reef-resilience/