"If our astronomer be judged by the original contributions which, under existing adverse circumstances, he actually did make to astronomy and mathematics, then it must be admitted that he can not be placed in the foremost rank of astronomers then living. Friends will judge him by what he might have done; the world at large will judge him by what he actually accomplished. Our greatest indebtedness to Rittenhouse lies not in the original contributions he made to science, but rather in the interest which he aroused in astronomical pursuits, and in the diffusion of scientific knowledge in the New World which resulted from his efforts."