Regional History Project Oral Histories

Dr. Shane was a noted astronomer and former Director of the Lick Observatory. This interview was designed as a supplement to one conducted by the American Institute of Physics in 1967, hence only a small portion of this volume deals directly with Dr. Shane's work or his administrative career. Instead it concentrates primarily on Dr. Shane's knowledge of the early years of the Lick Observatory.

At the time Dr. Shane first went to Lick Observatory as a student in 1914, many of the astronomers were men who had been with the Observatory since its very early years. Dr. Shane was asked to comment upon the various men who have been Directors of the Observatory and to discuss the progress of the Observatory under each man. The final portion of the manuscript deals with various items that Dr. Shane felt should have been included in the AIP interview, specifically comments on the establishment of the Statistics department at UC Berkeley, his experience working with the University's Academic Senate, and a discussion of some of the astronomy advisory committees on which he has served both in the United States and abroad.