When Rabbit Holes Work: The Arcturus Project and the Value of Disciplined Speculation
By Solo Amerigo Chicago, Illinois. May 27, 1933. 9:15 p.m. The lights of the Chicago World’s Fair suddenly sprang to life. The crowd let out a collective gasp of amazement. Light harvested from the star Arcturus had turned on the lights that fateful Chicago night at exactly 9:15 p.m. on May 27, 1933, to open the Century of Progress World’s Fair. The idea sprang from the brain of Edwin Brandt Frost, the second director of Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. To Frost, the symbolism was irresistible. The harvested light had begun its journey from Arcturus forty years earlier, around the time Chicago celebrated its first World’s Fair, the 1893 Columbian Exposition . What appeared to be a simple lighting ceremony became a demonstration of astronomy, engineering, imagination, and human ingenuity, all working in harmony. From a Lions Share perspective, Edwin Frost was an interesting character, even though he is not mentioned in the book the way several notable astronomers are...
