Binary Stars in Globular and Open Clusters

Abstract

In erecting the edifice we call science, it is given to some to draw the plans by which the entire effort will be guided, to others to lay the foundation stones on which the rest is built, to another group to place the windows that let in light upon the whole, and to still others to cover the result with the paint that will make it acceptable to the populace and the sponsoring agencies. In this review, it is, I fear, my task to run around the construction site, pick up odd bricks and pieces of brick, and ask whether they do not perhaps belong somewhere in the building. After the customary bit of folk history, this will be done in the order globular clusters, open clusters, with observations and theory inextricably mingled, as indeed they really are.