What is the story behind the telescope which overlooks the main level?
In the mid-1880s the telescope was housed in an observatory in the general area of the T.J. Majors building. Eventually the telescope was used by a local Peru boy, 14-year old Edison Pettit. The year was 1904 and the main floor of the current library building was just being finished as a Chapel and Convocation Center with a ceiling almost 40 feet higher than present day. As workmen were painting the ceiling with angels and cherubs young Edison got them to tie a string to the highest part of the ceiling. Near the floor level Edison tied a ball to the string. With this arrangement he studied the movement of the universe. Edison became an internationally renowned astronomer. In the 1930s he was the expert for questions as to whether there was life on Mars.
