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Electronic newsletter for the history of astronomy 03
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* *
* ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER FOR THE HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY *
* *
* Published by the Work Group for the History of Astronomy *
* in the Astronomische Gesellschaft *
* *
* Number 3, March 10, 1994 *
* *
* A translation of *
* *
* ELEKTRONISCHE MITTEILUNGEN ZUR ASTRONOMIEGESCHICHTE *
* Nr. 3, 4. Maerz 1994 *
* *
* Edited by: Dr. Wolfgang R. Dick <wdi@potsdam.ifag.de> *
* *
* Translated by: Donald Bellunduno <76450.1741@CompuServe.COM> *
* *
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A cause for concern for the reader
----------------------------------
Unfortunately, Electronic Networks can on occasion be even less
reliable than the regular mail, and E-Mail transmissions can get lost.
Please send a note to the Editor in the case that you have not received
one of the previous issues of EMA resp. ENHA.
...........................................................................
ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER FOR THE HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY (ENHA)
---------------------------------------------------------
ENHA is a translation of the German newsletter "Elektronische Mitteilungen
zur Astronomiegeschichte" (EMA), kindly provided by Donald Bellunduno
(Charlotte, NC, USA). Up to now, No. 1 and 2 are available. Subscribers to
EMA may choose whether they would like to receive EMA, or the English
version ENHA (however, with a short delay for the English translation), or
both.
...........................................................................
Electronic Journal of the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic
--------------------------------------------------------------
By Larry Klaes, EJASA Editor, Astronomical Society of the Atlantic
The Electronic Journal of the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic (EJASA)
is published monthly by the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic,
Incorporated. The ASA is a non-profit organization dedicated to the
advancement of amateur and professional astronomy and space exploration,
as well as the social and educational needs of its members. The EJASA is
a place for those on Internet to publish their works on the field.
The EJASA is also posted each month on the sci.astro, sci.space,
sci.space.news, and sci.misc USENET newsgroups. I have been Editor of the
EJASA since its founding in August of 1989.
Below is a list of EJASA articles on historical astronomy that fall into
the scope of HASTRO-L:
Volume 1, Number 10 - May 1990
* Did Kepler Fake the Evidence? - Ken Poshedly
Volume 2, Number 11 - June 1991
* Sir William Herschel and the Natural History of the Heavens
- Keith M. Parsons
Volume 3, Number 2 - September 1991
* Astronomy in Ancient Mesopotamia - Stacey Abrams
Volume 4, Number 11 - June 1993
* Marcus Manilius and Ancient Astronomy - Ian Bacon
If you are interested in these and other EJASA back issues, please send me
a request for the EJASA Volume Lists. Back issues are available from me
and the ASA anonymous FTP site at chara.gsu.edu (131.96.5.29).
I also invite you to write articles on the history of astronomy for the
EJASA. Your input is what makes the EJASA possible. Please send your
work to me for review at my network address at the end of this letter.
Larry Klaes klaes@verga.enet.dec.com
or - ...!decwrl!verga.enet.dec.com!klaes
or - klaes%verga.dec@decwrl.enet.dec.com
or - klaes%verga.enet.dec.com@uunet.uu.net
...........................................................................
HOST: An Electronic Bulletin for the History of Science
-------------------------------------------------------
By Julian A. Smith, _HOST_ editor
As rising costs and shrinking budgets make the printing of scholarly
journals ever more difficult, many universities and publishing companies
are experimenting with alternatives to the traditional printed page. One
of the most exciting is the electronic journal (ejournal). Composed of
the full text of a standard printed journal, it can be sent by electronic
mail through the Internet to a potentially infinite number of subscribers
at a very low cost; and issues can be archived for future reference and
retrieval at any FTP site. Moreover, the long delays between initial
writing and final publication can be drastically reduced, as editors,
authors and referees are placed in instantaneous contact with each other;
and subscribers can count on getting final copies as soon as they become
available. It is hardly surprising that electronic journals are often
considered to be the wave of the future; and encouraging signs of this
trend are already beginning to appear. Electronic journals have already
been founded in several branches of science, history and philosophy, among
others, and discussion of these new forms of scholarship is becoming
widespread in traditional printed journals and newsletters.
The history of astronomy is no exception, as ejournals such as this one
prove; and in the larger field of the history of science, ejournals are
also beginning to have an impact. _HOST: An Electronic Bulletin for the
History of Science and Technology_, is a new scholarly journal published
in both electronic and traditional printed formats at the Institute for
the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHPST) at the
University of Toronto, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. _HOST_ appears twice
a year, in January and July, though plans are currently underway to
increase the number of issues per annum. All issues distributed over the
Internet are free (simply send your request to jsmith@epas.utoronto.ca).
There is a nominal charge ($5) for issues on diskette, to cover the costs
of postage and handling (please specify what format of computer you use,
IBM, Apple or Macintosh; and whether you prefer 5.25" or 3.5" disks). A
typical issue contains scholarly articles, works in progress, book
reviews, conference announcements, electronic resources, occasional job
postings, and other news of interest to the profession. All research
articles submitted pass through an editorial board, and are sent to
scholarly referees for peer review. Their criticisms and suggestions are
communicated anonymously to the author, who revises the submission
accordingly, just as in the traditional printed journal.
_HOST_ began as a private bulletin board (BBS) for the history of science
operated irregularly by its current editor, Julian A. Smith, since 1984;
but it was not until 1991 that the informal BBS was changed into a
scholarly journal through its transferral to the Internet. In that year
editorial advisory and production boards were struck, and the journal
began formal publication. The current editorial advisory board (1994)
includes IHPST professors Trevor Levere (history of chemistry, Canadian
science), Bert Hall (medieval science, history of technology), Brian
Baigrie (philosophy of science, history of physics), and Pauline Mazumdar
(history of medicine); also advising is UQAM professor Yves Gingras
(social sciences).
The growth of _HOST_ has been extremely rapid, and has far exceeded its
founders' expectations. An early suscriber list of approximately 150
quickly mushroomed into over 2000 readers in more than 50 countries by the
beginning of 1994. Additional readers access copies of _HOST_ through
various gopher and anonymous FTP transfer, including the primary site at
epas.utoronto.ca, in the directory /pub/ihpst.
_HOST_ welcomes contributions in all areas of the history and philosophy
of science and technology. They may be sent through email to the editors,
at the following addresses:
jsmith@epas.utoronto.ca (Julian Smith, electronic editor)
gbaker@epas.utoronto.ca (Gordon Baker, print editor)
ihpst@epas.utoronto.ca (IHPST's account)
Contributions may also be faxed to IHPST at (416) 978-3003, or sent
through the traditional mails to the editors of _HOST_, IHPST, Room 316,
73 Queen's Park Crescent, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,
M5S 1K7. We look forward to hearing from you!
...........................................................................
ESO Libraries On-Line Catalogue
-------------------------------
The European Southern Observatory Libraries On-line Catalogue is now
publicly available. The system allows access to the Library Catalogue for
all ESO libraries, informs about new acquisition, and enables library
users to view their checkouts.
From outside ESO, use the telnet address libhost.hq.eso.org, login:
library (defaults will refer to Main Library in Graching) or lslib
(defaults refer to La Silla Library).
Two user guides are available: "The ESO Libraries On-line Catalogue in a
Nutshell" and "The ESO User Guide to the On-line Catalogue". Both are
available from the ESO Library in Garching (esolib@eso.org).
[Source: The Messenger (ESO), No. 74, 1993, p. 37]
...........................................................................
Bibliographic hints on the theme "electronic information"
---------------------------------------------------------
Albrecht, M.A.; Heck, A.: StarGates and StarWords. An On-line Yellow Pages
Directory for astronomy. The Messenger (ESO) (1993) 73, 39-40
Glebe, Thorsten; Witte, Rene: Computernetze in der Astronomie. (Computer nets
in astronomy)
Astronomie + Raumfahrt 30 (1993) 17, 410-413
Heck, Andre: Electronic publishing and intelligent information retrieval.
Bulletin d'Information du Centre de Donnees Astronomiques de Strasbourg,
(1992) 40, 127-131.
Lequeux, J.: The future of astronomy publications: electronic publishing?
The Messenger (ESO) (1992) 67, 58-61
Smith, Julian A.: Using Library Catalogues and Databases through INTERNET.
HOST 1 (1992) 1
[About HOST see the contribution by J.A.Smith in this issue.]
Smith, Julian A.: LISTSERVER Mailing Lists/Discussion Groups on
BITNET/INTERNET for the historian and philosopher of science and
technology. HOST 1 (1993) 2
Smith, Julian A.: Using "Newsgroups" through BITNET/INTERNET.
HOST 1 (1993) 2
...........................................................................
Antiquarian Catalog on the History of Space Travel
--------------------------------------------------
By Gerd Kueveler
In February 1994, as a common work of many antiquarians, an antiquarian
catalog on the History of Space Travel entitled: "Fly along to the stars,"
was released on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the landing on the
moon. It contains 1092 related representations to the main theme: books,
posters, autographs, all of which are in line with the theme of space
travel. Also, some astronomical works and classic science fiction novels
concerning the main theme of space travel are represented. Numerous
illustrations grace the very carefully laid out catalog, and in almost all
cases, there is a thorough bibliographic notation added which, all in all,
makes the catalog a 216 page reference work well worth taking a look at.
And while antiquarian rarities can often be expensive, the price of the
catalog will even take the non-collector by surprise. The catalog costs
only 20.00 DM, which is definitely worth purchasing! In order to order
your catalog write to:
Brockhaus / Antiquarium, Postfach 1220, D-70803 Kornwestheim, Germany.
...........................................................................
Walter Baade Bibliography
-------------------------
By Th. Schmidt-Kaler
In 1993 we celebrated Walter Baade's birthday for the 100th time. Baade
belonged to the most important group of astronomers of the first half of
this century. Together with Eddington, Russell, Shapley, Hubble and Oort,
Baade also furthered the idea of the development of stars and galaxies.
Biographical skits appear in other places. We present a retrospective
bibliography.
H.Wendker developed a register of scripts by W. Baade using an ongoing
numeral system (Astronomische Gesellschaft Mitteilungen 1960, pp. 9-11).
We will complete this list in further publications. Numbers 89-94 appeared
after Baades death. Further more, Baade wrote some small book reviews,
for example, on Shapleys "Galaxies" (in PASP 56, 95-96, 1944).
The bibliography will appear in "Die Sterne".
...........................................................................
Help needed to solve problem
----------------------------
P. Brosche transmitted the following inquiry: Who mentioned for the first
time the opinion that when one considers the overlayering of two ringed
craters on the moon, that the undisturbed one is the younger one? And
further, that in general that the younger craters are smaller than the
older ones?
...........................................................................
Conference Calendar
-------------------
1994
----
March 14, Potsdam (FRG)
5 pm, Telegrafenberg, Lecture hall in the Refractor-building
Michael Bolle (Berlin): Einstein's big brothers - the Observatories on the
Telegraphenberg. An architectual and historical study. In conclusion, an
association should be discussed and founded for the monuments to astronomy
and geosciences in Berlin and Brandenburg.
(Dr. W.R.Dick, see addresses in the imprint)
May 19, Leipzig (Attention! Schedule change!)
2 pm, Meeting hall of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, Goethestr. 3-5
Gisela Muenzel: The time service of the Leipzig observatory;
Wolfgang Schreier: K.F.Zoellner as physicist und astrophysicist
(Dr. Karl-Heinz Schlote, Tel. 0431-71 97 324)
June 3-5, Istanbul (Turkey)
Symposium on Science and Technology in the Turkish and Islamic World
(Dr. Feza Gunergun, Turkish Society for History of Science, P.K. 234,
Besiktas, 80692 Istanbul, Turquey)
June 27 - July 2, Vatican City (Italy)
"The Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena"
Vatican Observatory, Castel Gandolfo, Vatican State (near Rome)
The conference will treat the effect of astronomical phenomena on human
thought and activity: literature, art, myth and religion, history and
politics. (Professor Raymond E. White, Steward Observatory, University of
Arizona, Tucson AZ 85721, USA, E-mail: rwhite@as.arizona.edu)
September 3 - 5, Stralsund (FRG)
Symposium Horologium III. on the occassion of the 600th consecration of
the astronomical clock of St. Nikolai in Stralsund (Specialist conference
on the problems of clocks of the late Middle Ages and Middle Age
time-measurements; The exchange of new research information to the
East-See Group of Astronomical Clocks should serve to analyse the
religious, technical, historical, philosophical, and mental surroundings
of the clocks.
Conference location: Scheele-Haus in the old town of Stralsund
Conference languages: German, English, French
Lecture sign up period: March 10, 1994
(Hansestadt Stralsund, Kulturamt, Postfach 1, Faehrstr. 23/24,
D-18408 Stralsund, Germany, Tel. 03831/292125 or 292171)
September, Tashkent (Uzbekistan)
International Conference devoted to Ulugh Beg's Jubilee (600 years since
his birthday, 1394-1449) on Advances in Astronomy (History and Modern
problems). Among sub-themes: "History of Astronomy in Central asia"
(Prof. T.S. Yuldashbaer, Astronomical Institute, Academy of sciences, ul.
Astronomicheskaya 33, Tashkent 700052, Uzbekistan, CIS)
1995
----
September 11 - 16 1995, Vienna (Austria)
16th International Conference on the History of Cartography. Among the
topics: "Celestial Charts". (Austrian National Library, Map Department and
Globe Museum, Josefsplatz 1, A-1015 Wien, Austria)
...........................................................................
New Books
---------
D'Hollander, R.: L'astrolabe. Les astrolabes du Musee Paul Dupuy de
Toulouse. Paris: AFT, 1993. Pp. 158. 190/270 FF.
Debarbat, Suzanne; Ten, Antonio E. (Eds.): Metre et systeme metrique.
Observatoire de Paris, Instituto de Estudios Documentales e Historicos
sobre la Ciencia Universidad de Valencia, 1993. Pp. 194.
ISBN 84-370-1174-4, 80 FF.
[constitue les Actes de la "Journee Metre et Syteme metrique", journee
organisee par l'Observatoire de Paris, conjointement avec l'Instituto de
Estudios Documentales e Historicos sobre la Ciencia, le 5 juin 1991; Ce
volume est en vente a l'Observatoire de Paris au prix de 80 FF. Son prix
franco est de 90 FF adresses, libre de toute charge bancaire, au nom de
l'Agent Comptable de l'Observatoire de Paris, et envoye aux Relations
exterieures de l'Observatoire de Paris, 61 av. de l'Observatoire, 75014
Paris, France.]
Eichhorn, E.; Thiele, E.-J. (Hrsg.): Vorlesungen zum Gedenken an Felix
Hausdorff [Lectures in memory of Felix Hausdorff].
(Berliner Studienreihe zur Mathematik, Vol. 5)
Berlin: Heldermann Verlag, 1994. 270 pp. ISBN 3-88538-105-2, DM 42.00.
[contains also: H.J.Ilgauds, G.Muenzel: Heinrich Bruns, Felix Hausdorff
und die Astronomie in Leipzig]
Herrmann, Dieter B.: Astronomie - Sekundarstufe I [Astronomy - Secondary
level I]. Berlin: paetec Gesellschaft fuer Bildung und Technik, 1993.
160 pp. ISBN 3-89517-300-2
[contains more on history of astronomy than other schoolbooks]
Humboldt, Alexander von: Studienausgabe. Band 7: Kosmos. Entwurf einer
physischen Weltbeschreibung [Study issue # 7: Kosmos. Proposal of a physical
description of the world]. Vols. 1-2. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche
Buchgesellschaft, 1993. V, 327; VIII, 427 pp. ISBN 3-534-03107-5.
Hardbound, 2 vols. DM 139,-.
Lindqvist, Svante (Ed.): Center on the Periphery: Historical Aspects of
20th-Century Swedish Physics. Canton, MA: Science History Publications,
1993. [contains among other: Karl Hufbauer,"Breakthrough on the
Periphery: Bengt Edlen and the Identification of the Coronal Lines,
1939-1945", pp. 199-237]
Ostriker, J.P. (Ed.): Selected Works of Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich. Vol.
II: Particles, nuclei and the universe. Ewing, New Jersey: Princeton
University Press, 1993. Pp. XIV, 644. ISBN 0-691-08742-3
Sahade, J.; McCluskey Jr., G.E.; Kondo, Y. (Eds.): The realm of
interacting binary stars. (Astrophysics and Space Science Library, Vol.
177) Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1993. Pp. VI,
451. ISBN 0-7923-1675-4
[contains also: A.H.Batten, F.B.Wood: The development of the idea of
interacting double stars]
...........................................................................
Chronicals
----------
(Continued from ENHA No. 1)
The following are events which have taken place since the founding of the
Work Group, but were before hand unable to be included in the ENHA.
Additions are welcome.
October 16 - 18, 1992, Washington DC (USA)
Antique Telescope Society's Inaugural Convention at the US Naval
Observatory
October 29 - 30, 1992, Rome (Italy)
Convegno "La cultura astronomica e geografica in Italia dal XV al XVII
secolo"
October 4 - 8, 1993, Pulkovo near St. Petersbourg (Russia)
Russian Astrometric Conference dedicated to the Bicentenial Jubilee of
Academician Wilhelm Struve, the Founder and the First Director of the
Pulkovo Observatory
November 13, 1993, Jena (FRG)
Lectural Symposium on the occassion of the 450th anniversary of the
appearance of Copernicus' work "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
libri VI"; lectures by G.Wolfschmidt, F.Krafft, H.G.Walther, G.Schaefer
(Source: Sterne und Weltraum 32 (1993) 11, p. 761)
...........................................................................
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
----------------
In addition to the authors mentioned by name, those we thank for
information are:
P.Brosche (Daun), S.Debarbat (Paris), D.B.Herrmann (Berlin), G.Muenzel
(Leipzig), R.M.Sinclair (Arlington, USA), Kulturamt Stralsund, as well as
the Fachgruppe Geschichte des Vermessungswesen im Verband Deutscher
Vermessungsingenieure [section on the History of Survey instruments in the
Society of German Survey engineers].
...........................................................................
IMPRINT
-------
Electronic Newsletter for the History of Astronomy (ENHA)
Published by the Work Group for the History of Astronomy in the
Astronomische Gesellschaft
A translation of "Elektronische Mitteilungen zur Astronomiegeschichte"
Editor: Dr. Wolfgang R. Dick <wdi@potsdam.ifag.de>
Translated by: Mr. Donald Bellunduno <76450.1741@compuserve.com>
All news which is not mentioned by name are editorial contributions.
Articles as well as information for the several sections will be gladly
received.
Subscription for the ENHA is free, in order to obtain a subscription
inside Germany, one must first obtain a subscription for the
Mitteilungen zur Astronomiegeschichte (MA).
[Mitteilungen zur Astronomiegeschichte:
Price: DM 1.50 / issue plus postage and packing costs
outside FRG: free
Subscription: Send in DM 2.50 (one issue) or DM 5.00 (Nos. 4-5) in
stamps to the editor
Editor: Dr. W. R. Dick, Otterkiez 14,
D-14478 Potsdam, Germany, Tel.: (+331) 863199
]
Astronomische Gesellschaft / Astronomical Society:
Chairman: Prof. Dr. Hanns Ruder, University of Tuebingen, Theoretical
Astrophysics and Computational Physics, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, D-72076
Tuebingen
Secretary: Dr. G. Klare, Landessternwarte, Koenigstuhl, D-69117
Heidelberg
Arbeitskreis Astronomiegeschichte / Work Group for the History of
Astronomy:
Chairman: Prof. Dr. Peter Brosche, Observatorium Hoher List der
Sternwarte der Universitaet Bonn, D-54550 Daun, Germany,
Tel.: (+6592) 2150, Fax: (+6592) 2937
Secretary: Dr. Wolfgang R. Dick, Institut fuer Angewandte Geodaesie,
Aussenstelle Potsdam, Postfach 60 08 08, D-14408 Potsdam, Germany,
Tel.: (+331) 316 619, E-mail: wdi@potsdam.ifag.de
(in the event I am not reachable at this address, please try the following
address: dick@gfz-potsdam.de oder wdick@aip.de)
Secretary for Public Work: Dr. Gudrun Wolfschmidt, Deutsches
Museum, Museumsinsel 1, D-80538 Muenchen, Germany, Tel.: (+89) 2179 277,
Fax: (+89) 2179 324, E-mail: t7911ac@sunmail.lrz-muenchen.de
Bank Acct. of the Work Group of the Astronomische Gesellschaft:
Acct # 261 917, Sparkasse Mannheim (BLZ 670 501 01)
Contributions from foreign countries, please sign with: "Fuer
Arbeitskreis Astronomiegeschichte" to: acct # 162 18-203, Postgiroamt
Hamburg, BLZ 200 400 20
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