Bok's record of success in setting up new observatories would guide the rest of his career. Starting in 1952 he led the efforts to fund and construct a major radio telescope facility at Harvard's Oak Ridge Observatory. Unusually for his time, Bok believed that the combination of radio and optical astronomy could produce exceptional benefits. Initially, this was inspired by the difficulty and unreliability of visual star counting techniques, especially when there is obscuring dust. This combined approach proved to be vital in analyzing the interstellar medium, and particularly in developing an understanding of what was happening inside Bok Globules.