Identity area
Reference code
Hoyle/Box 15/7/7
Unique identifier
Title
Date(s)
- 1 Jul 1960 (Creation)
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Item
Extent and medium
1p paper
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Typescript copy of letter, not signed, from W.V.D. Hodge to [R.A.] Lyttleton
Was very perturbed to hear of action Lyttleton has been taking to try to stop the Isaac Newton Telescope. The action was extremely ill-advised, and may have the effect of providing Treasury officials with an excuse for resisting a claim for expenditure on other scientific projects, including theoretical astronomy. It is unlikely that Government will change its mind about the telescope. Has written a letter to the Minister of Science, enclosed in an effort to save the situation. Numbered 7 by FH.
Typescript copy of letter, not signed, from W.V.D. Hodge to Lord Hailsham
Enclosed with the above. The matters of the necessity and site of the Isaac Newton Telescope were discussed in full when the project was first begun. Leading astronomers contacted by the Astronomer Royal "are unanimous in holding views diametrically opposed to those of Dr Lyttleton". British optical astronomers need a large modern telescope, and for the sort of work for which the Isaac Newton Telescope will be mainly used, the climate is entirely satisfactory. Numbered 8 by FH.