Passage
In the summer of 1888, the observatory director, Dr. Alistair Finch, published his definitive catalog of stellar parallaxes, a volume praised for its meticulous calculations. In the preface, Finch extended a brief, formal thanks to the observatory's 'computers'—a team of underpaid women who spent ten hours a day cross-referencing photographic plates. Among them was Margaret Vance, whose private notebooks from that spring tell a different story. Her entries contain no complaints about the long hours, but are instead filled with tables tracking the anomalous variations in the star *Beta Cygni*. While Finch’s published catalog dismissed these fluctuations as temporary atmospheric interference, Margaret's calculations had mapped them to a periodic cycle, noting a mathematical symmetry that suggested a companion star. In October of that year, Finch delivered a lecture to the Royal Astronomical Society announcing his discovery of a binary system in *Beta Cygni*, citing a sudden 'clarification of instrumental resolution' during his autumn observations. Margaret, who sat in the gallery, wrote only that the evening was exceptionally cold, and that she had left her woolen shawl behind.
Which of the following best describes the implicit relationship between Margaret Vance’s private notebook entries and Dr. Alistair Finch’s lecture to the Royal Astronomical Society?
- Finch’s presentation relied on Vance’s prior independent mathematical breakthroughs, which he falsely attributed to improvements in his telescope.Answer
- BFinch’s lecture motivated Vance to begin tracking the star's anomalies to prove her supervisor's theories correct.
- CVance’s spring calculations were directly commissioned by Finch to resolve the atmospheric anomalies he had noted in his summer catalog.
- DVance's final journal entry reveals that she intended to use her physical discomfort in the gallery as a pretext to interrupt Finch's speech.