Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy

Seated in a sun-lit corner of his 17th century Dutch house, his hand touching a celestial globe, Johannes Vermeer's "Astronomer" seems to pon der about the mysteries of the universe. We might make the trip to Paris and ask him, in the Louvre, what precisely is on his mind. Unfortunately, there will be no answer. But we do know what his mind was not on. It was not on the approaching deadlines for the proposals he would have to write for getting funds and telescope-time, not on the meeting of the observing programs committee, not on his refereeing duty for the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, nor on his university's tightening budget for science. In the Kapteyn Institute at Groningen I stand face to face with the im pressive portrait of J.C. Kapteyn, painted in the year 1918. Seated at his desk he is doing his calculations with pen, pencil and tables, perhaps check ing the work of his skilled staff of human computers. Early in his career he had completed his magnum opus, the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung in collaboration with his close friend David Gill at Capetown, South Africa.

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Klappentext

This book is the emsecond volume/em under the title emOrganizations and/em emStrategies in Astronomy/em (OSA). These OSA books are intended to cover a large range of fields and themes: in practice, one could say that all aspects of astronomy-related life and environment are considered in the spirit of sharing specific expertise and lessons learned. br/ This book offers a unique collection of chapters dealing with socio-dynamical aspects of the astronomy (and related space sciences) community: characteristics of organizations, operational techniques, strategies for development, conference series, coordination policies, observing practicalities, computing strategies, sociology of large collaborations, publications studies, research indicators, research communication, public outreach, creativity in arts and sciences, and so on. br/ The experts contributing to this book have done their best to write in a way understandable to readers not necessarily hyperspecialized in astronomy while providing specific detailed information and sometimes enlightening 'lessons learned' sections. The book concludes with an updated bibliography of publications related to socio-astronomy and to the interactions of the astronomy community with the society at large. br/ This book will be most usefully read by researchers, teachers, editors, publishers, librarians, sociologists of science, research planners and strategists, project managers, public-relations officers, plus those in charge of astronomy-related organizations, as well as by students aiming at a career in astronomy or related space science.

Inhalt
Strategies for Bringing a 19th-Century Observatory up to the Standards of 21st-Century Astronomy.- IUCAA: A New Experiment for Indian Universities.- Background and Achievements of UN/ESA Workshops on Basic Space Science 19912001.- Organising and Funding Research at a European Level.- OPTICON: EC Optical Infrared Coordination Network for Astronomy.- Coordinating Multiple Observatory Campaigns.- New Strategies in Ground-Based Observing.- Large Surveys in Cosmology: The Changing Sociology.- The ESO Observing Programmes Committee.- Astronomical Software Strategies.- Scientometrics: The Research Field and its Journal.- Comments on Refereeing.- Communicating and Networking in Astronomy Libraries.- Editing the Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics.- Editing a Multilingual Astronomy Magazine.- Working with the Media: The Royal Astronomical Society Experience.- Creativity in Arts and Sciences: A Survey.- Updated Bibliography of Socio-Astronomy.