Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

History of the IAU

The Birth and First Half-Century of the International Astronomical Union

  • Book
  • © 1994

Overview

Authors:
  1. Adriaan Blaauw
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Birth and Consolidation; 1919–1922

    • Adriaan Blaauw
    Pages 1-14

  3. Earlier 20th Century Developments; World War I

    • Adriaan Blaauw
    Pages 15-53

  4. The IRC and the “Neutral” States; Suspicion and Resentment

    • Adriaan Blaauw
    Pages 55-68

  5. 1922–1928: First General Assemblies; IAU Becomes Fully International

    • Adriaan Blaauw
    Pages 69-102

  6. The Years 1928–1938

    • Adriaan Blaauw
    Pages 103-119

  7. The IAU and Political Persecutions in the 1930’s

    • Adriaan Blaauw
    Pages 121-128

  8. 1938–1948; World War II: Interruption and Recovery

    • Adriaan Blaauw
    Pages 129-150

  9. 1948–1958; Flourishing Science and Disturbing Politics

    • Adriaan Blaauw
    Pages 151-188

  10. The China Conflict

    • Adriaan Blaauw
    Pages 189-204

  11. 1958–1964; Reforms, Berkeley 1961, and Hamburg 1964

    • Adriaan Blaauw
    Pages 205-238

  12. 1964–1969; Reforms Continued, the Astronomer’s Handbook, Prague 1967, and the 50th Anniversary

    • Adriaan Blaauw
    Pages 239-252

  13. Financing in the Union; A Review over 75 Years

    • Adriaan Blaauw
    Pages 253-267

  14. Back Matter

    Pages 269-296
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This History has its origin in a suggestion, made in September 1990 by former IAU General Secretary Derek McNally, who felt "that a 75 year history of the Union was needed before the col­ lective memory of those who knew the Union before the Second World War vanished. It would then be a preparatory volume to a centennial history in 2019. " Indeed, of those who knew the Union that long ago, few are still with us. Six years ago, at Baltimore on August 2, 1988, listening and reminiscing at the Inaugural Ceremonies of the Union's 20th General Assembly, I realized that it was almost exactly half a century ago that, at the age of 24, I attended the Inaugurations at my "first" Assembly: on August 3, 1938 in Stockholm. Now, in 1994, this is almost 56 years ago, three quarters of the Union's age. Only vague recollections - no better than that -lead me back to this event, just before World War II. And so, this is not a history based on recollection, far from it. Recollection was helpful in that it allowed me, better perhaps than a younger author, to appreciate circumstances under which the letters and reports which form the basis for this History were written. The account is largely based on archival documents, collected from a wide variety of sources.

Reviews

`... owe a high debt of gratitude to Blaauw not only for providing this well-documented outline but for giving the IAU archives a high visibility and for taking steps to ensure their preservation.'
Owen Gingerich, Science, Vol. 266, December 1994
`It is, however, a book that should appeal to astronomical and observatory libraries.'
ISIS, 91:4 (2000)

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: History of the IAU

  • Book Subtitle: The Birth and First Half-Century of the International Astronomical Union

  • Authors: Adriaan Blaauw

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0978-9

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1994

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-2979-4Published: 31 July 1994

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-2980-0Published: 31 July 1994

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-011-0978-9Published: 06 December 2012

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIX, 296

  • Topics: Astronomy, Observations and Techniques, Social Sciences, general, History, general

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation