An evening with the stars: a contemplation of the heavens

              An Evening
With the Stars
A Contemplation of
The Heavens
Figure

Remarkable Moon photograph showing craters and ramparts casting shadows.Illustrated Lecture Given by B. R. Baumgardt, F.R.A.S.
More than One Thousand Times
An Evening with the Stars
A remarkable presentation of recent celestial photography, secured with the greatest telescopes in the world; so simply told that even a child can follow and understand.

FigureDetail from photograph of the Moon, taken with world’s largest telescope.

An Evening with the Starsis Mr. Baumgardt’s best known lecture. It has been given more than a thousand times.  Ever new, always revised and kept down to date, abreast with the latest achievements in exploration of the universe, and illustrated with astounding results of modern celestial photography, the lecture is withal presented in language so simple that even a child can understand.  Repeated visits to the leading astronomical observatories have resulted in an unrivaled collection of celestial views.  The Moon is brought within fifty miles of the earth (as shown in the above illustration).  Suns and worlds are weighed in the balance; giant stars exceeding our sun in volume thirty million times; star clusters that are situated on the verge 'of the creation; remote, yet distinct, cosmic units that stagger the imagination; fantastic spiral nebulae, in which we think we see the beginnings of the processes of creation-all combine into a transcendent exhibition of the infinite universe, in the midst of which stands forth the eternity of matter, the undiminished perpetuity of force, and, dominating all, the supremacy of law throughout all nature.

FigureThe Planet Mars, showing the much-debated canals,as seen by R. J.
Trumpler with the great Lick telescope, Sept. 7,1924, when the planet came nearer than it had been or will be for a century. The canals are plainly seen and are not due to optical illusion. This, however does not prove them to be man-made. They may owe their existence to natural, but unknown, causes.

THE purpose of this lecture is to reveal upon the screen the remarkable achievements in recent celestial photography and to interpret in a popular and understandable way their bearing on some of the greatest problems that have yet engaged the attention of thinking men.  Repeated visits to the leading astronomical observatories in this country and Europe have resulted in -An unrivaled collection of celestial views. For illustration: the Moon is brought within less than fifty miles of the Earth, enabling us to travel there in the midst of strange and sterile scenery, in which the thoughtful mind reads a signal prophecy of the fate that must eventually overtake our own Earth.

It is, however, in disclosing otherwise invisible objects in the heavens, billions and billions of miles away, on the frontiers of the universe, that the subject becomes sublime.  Suns and worlds are weighed in the balance.  Giant stars like Antares and Betelgeux, exceeding our own sun in volume thirty million times;

FigureA Total Eclipse of the Sun.  It would be difficult to indicate any two minutes in history for which so many scientific preparations were made, and in which the public was more keenly interested, than in the Total Eclipse of the Sun, Jan. 24, 1925. Was it worth while? It was. For a few moments some twenty million human beings forgot their earthly cares to receive a direct manifestation of the immensity of nature operating under the dominion of law.

globular star clusters on the verge of creation; remote, yet distinct, cosmic units that stagger the imagination; mysterious and fantastic spiral nebula, in which the discerning eye thinks it sees the very processes of genesis; dark rifts, coal sacks, in the densest part of the Milky Way, where we may possibly be penetrating into the infinite void behind the universe:--all these combine into a transcendent exhibition of the infinite scale upon which sidereal transformation is taking place and in the midst of which stand forth the eternity of matter, the undiminished perpetuity of force, and, dominating all, the supremacy of law in the universe.
What Constitutes a Lecture?The true spirit of interpreting knowledge is possessed by those who have a passion for diffusing, or making prevail the best knowledge and ideas of their times; who labor to divest knowledge of all that is difficult and exclusive, who make it efficient outside the clique of the learned, yet still have it remain the best knowledge and thought of the times, and therefore, a true source of light and inspiration.-Matthew Arnold.B. R. Baumgardt Lectures
Summer address:626 W. 30th Street,Los Angeles, Cal.

Mr. Oscar Howard,Secretary

Winter address:Transportation Club,New York City

An Evening with the StarsAtoms and Electrons-.the Ultimate RealityThe Romance of Human ProgressPresent Day World ProblemsThe Poetry of LifeThe Life and Aims of Richard WagnerNapoleon, Conqueror and CaptiveEgypt and the Dawn of CivilizationConstantinople and the Isles of GreeceMy Own CaliforniaRome and the Vatican Art TreasuresPompeii in the Days of Augustus and VergilSpain and The AlhambraThe Fjords of Norway and the Midnight SunFlorence in the Days of the MediciOur National Parks; an Introduction to GeologyVenice, the City of Golden DreamsThe Italian Lakes and RivieraRome; Ancient, Medieval and ModernMunicipal and Civic Art Centers, Ancient and ModernEarthquakes and VolcanoesEinstein and the Theory of RelativityLondon, the World's MetropolisThe English Lake DistrictShakespeare and Shakespeare's EnglandScotland in Song and StorySicily, the Garden of the HesperidesIreland and the IrishThe Mountains and Valleys of SwitzerlandSweden, the Land of Sunlit Nights Paris, the Historic CityJoan of Arc; In the Footsteps of the Maid of FranceLa Touraine and the Chateaux of FranceRussia Old and New; the Slav, the DreamerThe Grand Canyon of the Colorado RiverThe Yellowstone National ParkHawaii, the Paradise of the PacificMexico in the Days of Montezuma and Today

Illustrated with lantern views.Not illustrated.Either with or without lantern illustrations.

Note on lantern views. The remarkable slides in the illustrated lectures, with their unrivaled coloring (the art of Mrs. B. R. Baumgardt), should not be confounded with ordinary colored lantern slides.  They bear direct upon the subject and are seldom introduced for effect.

FigureB. R. Baumgardt, F.R.A.S. (From "Who's Who?")

Of English, Swedish and French extraction.  Born in Liverpool, England; educated in Sweden at Strengnas College.  Special studies in history, astronomy and mathematics.  President of S. California Academy of Sciences 1901-1905; Chairman of Astronomical and Mathematical Section 1895-1905.  Extensive world traveler and explorer. Staff lecturer of Brooklyn Institute; American Institute of New York; League for Political Education of New York; National Geographical Society of Washington; Institute of Arts and Sciences of Columbia University, New York; Goodwyn Institute, Memphis, Tenn. Fellow of The Royal Astronomical Society of England. Thirty-third Degree Mason. Clubs: Transportation Club, New York; Town Hall Club, New York; Hon. Member of the University Club of Los Angeles.
A Remarkable Return Engagement Record
LecturesNational Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 18Tremont Temple Courses, Boston 21Carnegie Hall, New York 31University of Chicago Extension 24Kansas City University Extension Society 12University of California Extension 32American University Extension, Philadelphia 86League for Political Education, New York 49Belasco Theater Sunday Courses, Washington, D.C. 19Columbia Univ., Inst. of Arts and Sciences, N. Y. 21American Institute, New York City 26Brooklyn Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y. 92Academy of Sciences and Arts, Pittsburgh, Pa. 24Goodwyn Institute, Memphis, Tenn. 33Academy of Sciences, Los Angeles 24The Scottish Rite, Los Angeles 71
Washington, D.C., The Washington HeraldIn conveying to his audiences the inspiration he himself has found in the study of the heavens and the amazing triumphs of human science, Mr. Baumgardt has achieved something more than success; he has made of his lecture an actual work of art. He so cunningly marshals facts and plays so skillfully on the minds and sentiments of his hearers, that the effect is almost stunning. It seems as it he had left no room for improvement.