• Features
  • Books
  • Teaching
  • Blog
  • Digital & Film
  • IHS & Public History
  • Texas
  • About

The past is never dead. It's not even past

Not Even Past

  • Texas Middle & High School Students
    • Websites
    • Papers & Abstracts
    • Videos
    • Exhibits
    • Performances
  • Univ of Texas at Austin Students
    • Honors and Awards
    • Websites & Documentaries
    • Making History: Grad Students Speak

The Eclipse of the Century: A Story of Science, Money, and Culture in Saharan Africa and the American Southwest

by David A. Conrad

Abstract:

Universities received large amounts of government funding for scientific research during World War II and the early Cold War. Such assistance allowed the University of Texas’s McDonald Observatory to pursue an ambitious research agenda in the field of astronomy. In 1973 Observatory staff and faculty from the University of Texas Department of Physics organized an expedition to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to observe a solar eclipse. They planned to conduct a delicate experiment which could help to confirm an aspect of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. In addition to securing the necessary funds, the success of the expedition depended on favorable viewing conditions in the sweltering, sandstorm-prone Sahara and the assistance of an oasis community called Chinguetti.

image

The McDonald Observatory circa 1939.

image

The view from the McDonald Observatory today.

image

A present day eclipse in Mauritania.

About David Conrad:

image

David Conrad is entering his fourth year in the University of Texas at Austin’s history program. After receiving his B.A. in History and Asian Studies from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, David spent two years as an ESL instructor in a small, seaside Japanese community. He plans to pursue a dissertation under the guidance of Dr. Mark Metzler on land reform in East and Southeast Asia in the mid-twentieth century. In addition to U.S. foreign policy, Japanese history, and agricultural history, David is interested in the history of science and the history of film, television, and radio.

Visit David Conrad’s homepage.

You may also like:

David Conrad’s TEXAS piece, which offers a more in depth look into his seminar paper on the McDonald Observatory.

Our TEXAS feature on the University of Texas at Austin’s Physics Department’s history website.

Photo credits:

Russell Lee, “The McDonald Observatory Near Fort Davis, TX,” May 1939

via The Library of Congress

Flickr Creative Commons User agrilifetoday,”Wildfires Approach McDonald Observatory in Texas, 20″ April 2011

via agrilifetoday/Flickr Creative Commons

Flickr Creative Commons User paper kay, Untitled, 3 March 2007

via paper kay/ Flickr Creative Commons

Posted June 26, 2012 More Honors and Awards, Students, Teaching, University of Texas at Austin Students

Author spotlight

NEP Author Spotlight - Alejandra Garza

January 13, 2021

More from Author-spotlight

Teaching

Colonial Latin America through objects: Teaching with Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra

November 20, 2020

More from Teaching

Digital & Film

Digital Archive Review: Latin American and Caribbean Digital Primary Resources

November 25, 2020

More from Digital & Film

Books

A Temperate Empire: Making Climate Change in Early America by Anya Zilberstein (2016)

Featured imageDecember 16, 2020

More Books

IHS & Public History

IHS Climate in Context - Climate by Proxy

December 15, 2020

More from IHS & Public History

Texas

Texas Hurricanes: Past, Present, and Future

January 13, 2021

More from Texas

Tags

19th century 20th Century African American History american history Asia Asia & Middle East book review Brazil British Empire China Civil War Cold War Colonialism communism cultural history digital history Early Modern Europe Europe film gender history History of Science immigration India Islam Latin America Latin American History Mexico Not Even Past Public History race religion Russia slavery Texas Texas History Texas History Day Transnational Twentieth Century History United States US History USSR Womens History world history World War II
NOT EVEN PAST is produced by
The Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
We are supported by the College of Liberal Arts
And our Readers

Donate
Contact

All content © 2010-present NOT EVEN PAST and the authors, unless otherwise noted

    Sign up to receive the monthly Not Even Past newsletter

    • Features
    • Books
    • Teaching
    • Digital & Film
    • Blog
    • IHS & Public History
    • Texas
    • About