Theaters of Time and Space: American Planetaria, 1930–1970

  • Jordan D. Marché
Rutgers University Press: 2005. 266 pp. $49.95 081353576X | ISBN: 0-813-53576-X

The spectacle of the night sky stretched overhead is the most breathtaking of natural wonders. Throughout time, people from every culture and from every part of the globe have experienced a sense of the infinite when confronted with the canopy of the Universe in a genuinely dark sky. However, the progression towards a more urbanized, industrialized society has brought with it a shroud of light pollution that has hidden this view from roughly half of Earth's population. But many city dwellers, especially in the United States, can still enjoy the splendour of a starry sky — by visiting their local planetarium, an island of sparkling celestial clarity (albeit artificial) in a sea of perpetual urban twilight.

In Theaters of Time and Space, author, science historian and planetarium veteran Jordan D. Marché II explores the evolution of planetaria from their inception in Germany to their proliferation across the United States. This account is both meticulous and colourful, and is sure to be enjoyed by anyone who is interested in astronomy, loves mechanical devices or has simply found inspiration under a planetarium's virtual starlight. The book outlines many of the social and cultural influences that fostered the spread of planetaria and their growth in popularity.

The concept of the planetarium was born from a confluence of ideas and technologies, including two early mechanical models of the Universe. The first of these, the orrery, uses a system of gears and wheels to demonstrate the motions of the Sun, Moon and planets. The second was a hollow rotating globe, large enough to hold a small audience, with the stars and constellations painted on the interior to demonstrate celestial motions. With impetus from Oskar von Miller of the Deutsches Museum in Munich, an engineer named Walther Bauersfeld of the venerable Carl Zeiss optical company hit upon the idea of using projected images to show the motions of bodies in the Solar System against a fixed dome of painted stars. His colleague Werner Straubel then suggested optically projecting the stars as well. This engineering epiphany led to the genesis of the modern projection planetarium.

The Carl Zeiss company made the first planetarium for the Deutsches Museum on the roof of its own factory in Jena, Germany. It opened in August 1923, and its abilities were demonstrated in the factory for a year before it was installed in the Munich museum the following August.

Star attraction: Zeiss projectors in the Adler Planetarium have given the Chicago public a glimpse of the heavens since 1930. Credit: ADLER PLANETARIUM

Marché chronicles the arrival of Zeiss planetaria in five major US cities between 1930 and 1939. Chicago's Adler Planetarium, featuring the Zeiss Model II projector, was the first, but others soon opened to enthusiastic audiences in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York and Pittsburgh.

Although Zeiss dominated early on, several imaginative inventors soon offered creative alternatives to the complex and expensive Zeiss systems. An interesting aspect of this story is the reaction of the directors of Zeiss planetaria to the arrival of competing systems. The book details how these influential individuals were able to stifle the propagation of less expensive planetaria until after the Second World War. It was then that Armand Spitz created and marketed a projector system that was smaller, simpler and more affordable than the Zeiss system. Spitz's legacy was to make planetaria much more numerous and hence more accessible to the public. Although attacked by Zeiss purists, the Spitz system was aided by a lack of direct competition and the dawning of the space age. Spitz went on to become the world's largest producer of planetaria.

But Theaters of Time and Space is about more than just machinery. Marché touches on the human issues behind the birth of this industry. The book describes the emergence of the planetarium professional, a discipline containing elements of scientist, technician, teacher and entertainer. The history of women in the field is also examined, revealing the early difficulties they had breaking into this male-dominated profession. The book follows the careers of pioneering female planetarium directors and illustrates the growth of opportunities for women that came with the success of the Spitz system. Marché also describes how the spiritual nature of astronomy inspired early philanthropic sponsorship of planetaria.

The book is a well written, thorough and enjoyable tribute to planetaria. It demonstrates their importance in encouraging interest in space science, providing communication between astronomers and the public, and promoting scientific literacy. It would be interesting to know how many astronomers can trace the inspiration that sparked their career to a planetarium visit.