Between 1912 and 1914, the Anglo-American popularizer of astronomy, Mary Proctor, undertook a tour of Australia and New Zealand in order to promote a solar observatory project that would ultimately be realized as the Mount Stromlo Observatory in Australia. Proctor came at the request of Walter Geoffrey Duffield, who would go on to be the first Director of the Mt Stromlo Observatory and who saw the need to raise funds and public support for the project. Proctor’s tour was high-profile and nearly saw the realization of a solar observatory as part of the Cawthron Institute at Nelson, New Zealand. Despite this, Proctor’s tour is absent from histories of Mount Stromlo and, until recently, had also been overlooked in New Zealand. I argue that this historical lacuna speaks to a number of historiographical biases: for success over failure; against the role of public activities in scientific work; and downplaying the contribution of women. Mary Proctor was a significant transitional figure in the history of early twentieth-century science-communication who should be more widely recognised.

1912 年至 1914 年间，英美天文学普及者玛丽·普罗克特 (Mary Proctor) 访问了澳大利亚和新西兰，以推广最终将实现为澳大利亚斯特罗姆洛山天文台的太阳观测站项目。Proctor 应 Walter Geoffrey Duffield 的要求前来，后者将继续担任 Mt Stromlo 天文台的第一任主任，他认为需要为该项目筹集资金和公众支持。Proctor 的访问备受瞩目，几乎见证了作为新西兰纳尔逊 Cawthron 研究所一部分的太阳观测站的实现。尽管如此，普罗克特的巡回演出并未出现在斯特罗姆洛山的历史中，而且直到最近，在新西兰也被忽视了。我认为这个历史空白说明了一些历史学的偏见：成功而不是失败；反对公共活动在科学工作中的作用；并淡化女性的贡献。玛丽·普罗克特是 20 世纪早期科学传播史上一个重要的过渡人物，应该得到更广泛的认可。