A magnificent piece of architecture, the Holy Grail of astronomy, the Yerkes Observatory in southern Wisconsin is being rescued from the ravages of time and the wrecking ball by a determined group of devotees. Three domes, including one that houses the world’s largest refracting telescope, tower over a landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmsted of Central Park fame. Tens of thousands of glass plate negatives chronicling the cosmos are also stored here, waiting to be digitized. This is a living, breathing space where so much more is just waiting to be discovered.
