scholarly journals COMMISSION 41: HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (T27A) ◽  
pp. 415-419
Author(s):  
Nha Il-Seong ◽  
Clive L. N. Ruggles ◽  
Alexander A. Gurshtein ◽  
Rajesh K. Kochhar ◽  
David H. DeVorkin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
International Astronomical Union ◽  
International Astronomical ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Astronomy

Commission 41 of the International Astronomical Union deals with all aspects of astronomical history and heritage from ancient sky knowledge to developments in modern astronomy that have occurred within living memory. It encourages and supports research in the history of astronomy and related fields such as archaeoastronomy and is also concerned with the identification, documentation and preservation of vital aspects of our astronomical heritage such as sites, artifacts, instruments and archives. Commission 41 is one of the largest Commissions in the Union, and is a member of Division XII on Union-Wide Activities.

scholarly journals The Role of the IAU Gleaned From Oral Histories of Individuals Involved in Astronomy in South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (S349) ◽  
pp. 240-247
Author(s):  
Lerothodi L. Leeuw ◽  
Jarita Holbrook
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Oral Histories ◽  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
Cape Of Good Hope ◽  
International Astronomical ◽  
Royal Observatory ◽  
British Colony ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), formerly known as the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, will be 200 years old in 2020. Also, South Africa (SA), formerly a British colony known as the Cape of Good Hope, will celebrate her 100-year anniversary as an International Astronomical Union (IAU) member in 2020, following the IAU centenary in 2019 that this IAU Symposium 349 celebrates. In light of all this, particularly in anticipation of the 200-year anniversary of SAAO in 2020, the SA National Research Foundation (NRF) has developed a Roadmap for the History of Astronomy in South Africa. As part of this we are conducting an oral history of astronomers to complement the historical celebrations of the institutions and science relating to astronomy in SA, supported by the SA NRF. Primarily drawing on literature and setting the scene for this work, here we present a snippet of the on-going oral histories, to glean the role of the IAU in astronomy in South Africa and show the potential of the oral histories to inform and complement written history.

scholarly journals The history of IAU Symposia

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (S349) ◽  
pp. 401-405
Author(s):  
Areg M. Mickaelian
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Middle East ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
International Astronomical Union ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Astronomical Society ◽  
International Astronomical ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scientific Meetings ◽  
Astronomy And Astrophysics

AbstractThe history of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) meetings goes back to 1922 when the first IAU General Assembly (GA) was held in Rome, Italy, following the IAU creation in 1919. However, until 1953, no individual symposia were organized and the GAs were the only official gatherings for astronomers. All together, eight IAU GAs were held during 1922–1952. The IAU Symposium 1 was held in 1953 in Groningen, Netherlands. Starting with 1955, several IAU symposia were regularly held in different places, and since 1959, the IAU also began to organize colloquia to discuss relatively smaller topics. Twenty IAU colloquia numbered as I–XX were held in the period 1959–1971, and another series of IAU colloquia was organized in 1968–2005, numbered as Nos. 1–200. At present IAU symposia are the only official scientific meetings, nine of them being organized every year. IAU S349 “Under One Sky: the IAU Centenary Symposium”, held in Vienna during the IAU GA XXX, was the last one by number in 2018. Thus, the IAU has a 65-year history of symposia and all together 348 such meetings have been held, on average 5–6 annually. At present most of the IAU symposia during the years of GA are being organized in the framework of the GA, there being typically six symposia during each GA. All together, 31 IAU GA have been organized during the years 1922–2018, including 30 regular ones and one Extraordinary GA (1973 in Warsaw, Poland), typically once every three years. Since 1974, the IAU has also organized regional meetings in Europe, Asia and Pacific (APRIM), Latin America (LARIM), and the Middle East and Africa (MEARIM). The European ones were discontinued in 1990 after the creation of the European Astronomical Society (EAS) and the organization of the yearly JENAM/EWASS. The 348 IAU symposia have been organized in 43 countries. We give the statistics of all IAU symposia by year of organization, by various topics of astronomy and astrophysics, and by host countries and cities.

Guidelines for a Social History of Astronomy

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1 and 2) ◽  
pp. 77-87
Author(s):  
V. F. Polcaro ◽  
A. Martocchia
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
Greek Language ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Copernican Revolution ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Modern Astronomy

An analysis of the basic cultural, historical and social elements which allowed the re-discovery and transfer of astronomical knowledge from the earlier Middle Ages up to the birth of modern astronomy, is presented in the new book Storia sociale dell’Astronomia. The book describes the main factors which played a role in suppressing or re-awakening interest in astronomical observations and events down the centuries. Among such elements we include: the loss of Greek-language-based knowledge as a vector of scientific knowledge; Christian and Islamic conceptions of Astrology; religious practices connected with observations; the birth of universities; the Protestant paradigm and humanism; the evolution of the social figure of the scientist in the West, from monks to aristocrats, and from Renaissance lords to bourgeois entrepreneurs. We focus attention on the social phenomena which caused the development of Astronomy as a science from the Middle Ages to the Copernican revolution, and claim that the ruling class’s attitude towards science is not only a matter for historical studies, but has much to do with the modern impoverishment and stagnation of Astronomy.

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