At the 1880 AGM of the PPI a proposal was made that a telescope should be purchased, to be housed in a tower which was to be built in the new extension to the museum currently under construction. This decision came about as several lectures with an astronomical theme had been given to the PPI in 1878 and 1879, including four by Robert Grant, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow and one by Reverend John Crouch entitled 'The Telescope in Relation to Astronomical Observation'.