/^^^jj^^^j^:
ACADEMY OF
NEW YORK CITY JUNE 1991
BY CLYDE W. TOMBAUGH
64 4<ftA
(J^kD i t/-vuXj fiavea liotle confession to make to you. For 61 years I
\| have been a Plutocrat!
Many of us are here because we happened to have the right
background, the right temperament and potential in the right place
at the right time for a situation moment in history that
accidentally fitted our particular ability. Unfortunately, for
many others, the opportunity never came because the essential
factors did not coincide.
One of my favorite gems of wisdom comes from the ancient
Chinese philosopher, Confucius, who said: "The future is for those
who prepare for it." This was true in my case. While not
realizing it, I had been preparing myself for 14 years that lead to
the discovery of the 9th planet, Pluto, in 1930. first an active
hobby in geography, later the thought occurred to me in the 6th
grade: "what would the geography be like on the other planets,
particularly Mars. What kind of world did the Martians have?"
This lead me into Astronomy.
I was born and raised on a farm when farmers were in difficult
times. Unable to afford college, all of my astronomical knowledge
was self-taught, from reading books and observing the heavens. I
ground a few parabolic mirrors for my home-made telescopes, because
I could not afford to buy them. The third one was an excellent
9-inch reflecting telescope which I completed in the early Spring
of 1928.
On the 20th of June 1928, a dreadful hailstorm completely
ruined our wheat crops on our farm in western Kansas. No college
for Clyde that Fall. As it turned out, I did something more
important. I made sketches of the markings on Mars and Jupiter at
the eyepiece in the late Fall of 1928._ftl sent the sketches to the
r LOwell Observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona. Apparently, they were
favorably impressed, as they could compare my sketches with their
\ current photographs. Very soon, I received a letter from the
1 Director, asking me about my education and health. I had studied
"0 all the Science and mathematics that my high school offered. I
^v promptly answered. Soon came another letter: "Would I be
J interested in coming to Flagstaff on 3 months trial to take long
exposure photographic plates in an unheated dome?" A most
/ unexpected opportunity. So I made ready for the 1,000 mile trip to
\ the far Southwest. The previous summer, I earned about $40 from
( operating at a wheat-cutting combine for a neighbor whose farm was
\ not in the hailstorm.