A Benevolent Astronomer: Further notes on L. J. Comrie

Lindsay Rollo

doi:10.26686/knznq.v5i1.677

Abstract

Britain, and particularly London, was neither a pleasant nor a safe place to be in 1940. Nor were the prospects of the city all that welcoming. In May Winston Churchill became Prime Minister – he offered ‘blood, toil, tears, and sweat.’ By early June the ‘miracle’ of Dunkirk was offering some encouragement, but this was offset by the evacuation of British troops from Norway with several thousand casualties. July to August saw the Battle of Britain with the Blitz on London, and throughout this period the loss of Allied shipping caused continuing apprehension. By the end of the year Britain stood alone against Germany and Italy, with Russia uncommitted in the wings. It was against this background that Leslie John Comrie made the decision to ship a large quantity of books and serial and periodical publications to the Carter Observatory in Wellington. Comrie was an expatriate New Zealander who had been Superintendent of the British Nautical Almanac Office, had established Scientific Computing Services Ltd in London and was an acknowledged leader in numerical computation before the advent of electronic computers. He was also regarded as the leading table maker and table editor of his day. 1

Highlights

In May Winston Churchill became Prime Minister – he offered ‘blood, toil, tears, and sweat.’ By early June the ‘miracle’ of Dunkirk was offering some encouragement, but this was offset by the evacuation of British troops from Norway with several thousand casualties
Comrie was an expatriate New Zealander who had been Superintendent of the British Nautical Almanac Office, had established Scientific Computing Services Ltd in London and was an acknowledged leader in numerical computation before the advent of electronic computers. He was regarded as the leading table maker and table editor of his day
The principal gift no direct evidence of his rationale has so far been found in the correspondence in Carter archives, anecdotal evidence from George A Eiby is recorded in Tee (1981, 85)

Summary

Introduction

In May Winston Churchill became Prime Minister – he offered ‘blood, toil, tears, and sweat.’ By early June the ‘miracle’ of Dunkirk was offering some encouragement, but this was offset by the evacuation of British troops from Norway with several thousand casualties. When I was on the Carter Observatory Board some 25 years ago we were told that one reason Comrie had sent it was that if all British libraries had been destroyed in the Second World War positional astronomy could have been reconstructed from it.

Results

Conclusion