In the Service of Nine Popes

This book celebrates the history of the Vatican Observatory on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of its founding document, Pope Leo XIII's Motu Proprio. The book aims to provide a complete, up-to-date history of the Observatory. Information from a variety of sources is combined in this account, including facts that have been buried in archival material, plus fresh material derived from interviews, the correspondence of its directors, staff members' personal testimonies, and excerpts from previous publications on Observatory history. In presenting a summary of the work carried on at the Observatory during the past 100 years, the author illuminates Pope Leo XIII's special purpose in founding it: "...that everyone might see clearly that the Church and her pastors are not opposed to true and solid science, whether human or divine, but that they embrace it, encourage it, and promote it with the fullest possible dedication".