  I report some results of an echelle spectroscopic survey of RR Lyrae stars
begun in 2006 that I presented in my Henry Norris Lecture of January 4, 2010.
Topics include (1) atmospheric velocity gradients, (2) phase-dependent envelope
turbulence as it relates to Peterson's discoveries of axial rotation on the
horizontal branch and to Stothers' explanation of the Blazhko effect, (3) the
three apparitions of hydrogen emission during a pulsation cycle, (4) the
occurrence of He I lines in emission and absorption, (5) detection of He II
emission and metallic line-doubling in Blazhko stars, and finally (6)
speculation about what helium observations of RR Lyrae stars in omega Centauri
might tell us about the putative helium populations and the horizontal branch
of that strange globular cluster.
