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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
The allegory alluded to in the subtitle of my review came to mind in the early morning hours when I was battling insomnia after a successful observing run at our McDonald Observatory. Similar bouts with insomnia are more widely classified as “jetlag,” a condition probably too familiar to many of the readers!
Imagine two villages connected by a bridge spanning a deep, fast-flowing river. In my village on the south bank live the astronomers. Across the bridge live the chemical physicists and the physical chemists who are engaged in determining by all possible theoretical and experimental means the structure and spectra of molecules (and atoms). The astronomical community can be sorted into various clans of whom I consider here only the stellar spectroscopists and, in particular, the small subclan fascinated by quantitative spectroscopy who to pursue their trade must establish and maintain excellent communications with the village on the other side of the bridge. The necessity for contacts between the two villages has grown with the development of the tools of the stellar spectroscopists’ trade: e.g., the advances of telescopes and spectrographs with respect to coverage of the electromagnetic spectrum and sensitivity, and the theoretical developments in the construction of model stellar atmospheres and the computation of synthetic stellar spectra. The recent decades of astronomical advances have been matched by exciting years in the village across the bridge: e.g., tunable lasers have spawned a renaissance in molecular (and atomic) spectroscopy, and theoretical work on molecular structure and spectra has advanced with the awesome growth of computers. Yet, a curious paradox may be sketched. These welcome and remarkable developments in the two villages have made it more difficult to maintain effective communications across the bridge. How can I possibly exploit fully the successes of MRD-CI calculations and appreciate their limitations? My counterparts across the bridge will echo my question: What experiments or quantum calculations might be usefully made in support of the astronomers’ programs ATLAS, MARCS, SOSMARCS, and their relatives?