Research and publications in the field of Astronomy have undergone dramatic changes in the last half-century. While activities just slowed down during World War II in the US and in Latin America, they were very strongly affected by the difficult conditions prevailing among the European belligerent nations. Half a century ago, re search activities were mostly confined to observatories (linked or not to universities) and usually separated from the teaching of physical sciences. Hence, directors of observatories played an important role in the choice of the research fields, and "schools" of...

Anyone who doubts that astronomy is enjoying a golden age has only to browse the pages of Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy, Vol. 5. Our golden age is defined not only by the enormity of new discoveries of dark energy, dark matter, extra-solar planets, and the evolution of Mars, but also by the breadth, diversity, and creativity within our community. This volume records our history, in a period of such rapid change and growth that individual astronomers are hard-pressed to keep abreast of their own fields and neighborhoods, much less of developments world-wide. Since the 1950's,...

Astronomy isthemostancientsciencehumanshavepracticedonEarth. Itisascienceofextremesandoflargenumbers: extremesoftime-fromthe big bang to in?nity -, of distances, of temperatures, of density and masses, ofmagnetic?eld, etc.Itisasciencewhichishighlyvisible, notonlybecause stars and planets are accessible in the sky to the multitude, but also - cause the telescopes themselves are easily distinguishable, usually on top of scenic mountains, and also because their cost usually represent a subst- tialproportionofthenation'sbudgetandofthetaxpayerscontributionsto that budget. As such, astronomy cannot...

Astronomyhasalwaysbeenoneoftheeasiestofthesciencestoconveyto the public. That is partly because it produces spectacular pictures that can be explained (at least in part) and admired, partly because understanding of astronomy usually does not depend upon a knowledge of a complex cl- si?cation system or esoteric terminology, and partly because its extremes in distances and times challenge our imagination and philosophies. Most scientists enjoy sharing with others the discoveries made by th- selves and their colleagues. The primary purpose of scienti?c research is to discover, to learn, and to...

StarGuides 2001 represents the most comprehensive and accurately validated collection of practical data on organizations involved in astronomy, related space sciences and other related fields. This invaluable reference source (and its companion volume, StarBriefs 2001) should be on the reference shelf of every library, organisation or individual with any interest in these areas. The coverage includes relevant universities, scientific committees, institutions, associations, societies, agencies, companies, academies, bibliographic services, data centres, dealers, distributors, funding...

The present volume gathers together the talks presented at the second colloquim on the Future Professional Communication in Astronomy (FPCA II), held at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) on 13-14 April 2010. This meeting provided a forum for editors, publishers, scientists, librarians and officers of learned societies to discuss the future of the field. The program included talks from leading researchers and practitioners and drew a crowd of approximately 50 attendees from 10 countries. These proceedings contain contributions from invited and contributed talks from leaders in the field,...

This text reviews the changes brought about in the field of astronomy by the release of the Hipparcos catalogue. Chapters by leading experts detail the various approaches of one of the most challenging cosmological issues: the scale of the universe.

The pilot boat just moved away and'its lights are already fading towards the coast of Northeastern Queensland over which Saturn is going to set. There is still quite some time to go before dawn. The big ship has now regained her cruise speed following its roughly northwesterly route in the South Coral Sea along the chain of nearby reefs. Few people are around at this time, except a dozen early birds sharing some 'shipshaping' exercise on the top deck and taking advantage of the relative coolness of the night. On my way down to the stateroom, I cannot but stop once more in front of that...

In May 1976, when one of us was temporarily associated with Stras bourg Observatory for lecturing on distance determination methods (Heck 1978), Pierre Lacroute - then in his last year as Director there - mod estly requested comments on a project he had been cherishing for quite a few years, and which he had been presenting to visitors and colleagues: an astrometric satellite. His persuasiveness and persistence won support from the scientific com munity, from the French space agency CNES and from the European Space Agency (ESA): the Hipparcos satellite was born. It was fitting that Lacroute...