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Biennial History of Astronomy Workshops
University of Notre Dame
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Biennial History of Astronomy Workshop - ND II June 22-25, 1995

Program

All sessions held in the Center for Continuing Education.

Thursday, June 22 Workshop Opens
8:00 - 10:00 pm Welcoming Reception
Notre Dame Center for Continuing Education
Friday, June 23 Sessions begin
8:30 - 9:00 am Greetings and Introduction of Participants
Mike Crowe (Notre Dame) and Steve Dick (U. S. Naval Observatory), Co-chairs of the Workshop
9:00 - 11:30 am The Politics of Historical Interpretation
Chairs: Marc Rothenberg and John Lankford
  • Marc Rothenberg (Joseph Henry Papers): “The Anti-Anti-Science Movement in History of Astronomy”
  • John Lankford (Kansas State University): “The Politics of Historiography and the History of Astronomy”
1:15 - 3:00 pm Historical Studies on Astronomy I
Chair: Ron Brashear (Huntington Library)
  • Bella C. Chiu (Arlington, Virginia): “Was Canton Meant to Be Built near the Tropic of Cancer?”
  • Brother Kevin Ryan (Christian Brothers University): “Kepler's Arithmetic”
  • Elsa L. Gonzalez (Chicago, Ill.): “President de Saron (1730­1794): Astronomer and Mathematician”
  • Louise Golland (Chicago, Ill.): “Highlights in Theoretical Astronomy from the 18th and 19th Centuries”
  • Robert Havlik and Terrence Rettig (University of Notre Dame): “The University of Notre Dame, Napoleon III Telescope”
  • Orville R. Butler ( Johnson County Community College): “Directions towards a Comprehensive Bibliography in the History of American Astronomy-Problems and Prospects”
  • John W. Briggs (Yerkes Observatory): “A Note on the New Antique Telescope Society”
3:15 - 5:00 pm Historical Studies on Astronomy II
Chair: Joann Eisberg (University of California, Santa Barbara)
  • Deborah Warner (Smithsonian): “Bloom and the Time Ball: Joyce's Uses of Astronomy in Ulysses”
  • Pamela Gossin (Univ. Texas, Dallas): “Pulp Poetry: Doing Violence to the History of Astronomy?”
  • Craig B. Waff (Collier's): “The Cold War Origin of U.S. Solar-System Exploration”
  • Rudi Paul Lindner (University of Michigan): “Astronomy in a Cloudy Climate”
  • Jordan D. Marché II (Indiana University): “The Planetarium in America, 1930-1970: A Social History”
  • George Sweetnam (Princeton University): “Putting Physics into Astrophysics”
  • Michael Anderer (St. Charles, Ill.): “Fr. Hagen and the 'Nebulose oscure'”
8:00 - 10:00 pm Gathering at the home of Mike Crowe (see map in conference packet)
Saturday, June 24  
9:00 - 11:30 am History of Twentieth-Century Astronomy
Chair, Robert Smith (NASM, Smithsonian, and Johns Hopkins University)
  • Robert Smith, “Engines of Discovery? Material Culture in the History of Modern Astronomy”
  • Steven Dick (U. S. Naval Observatory): “The Search for Extraterrestrial Life: The History of Ideas and the Limits of Science”
  • Ron Doel: “The State of Community Studies: Prospects and Problems”
  • David DeVorkin (Smithsonian): Commentary
1:15 - 4:15 pm News from the Early Modern Period (Formerly the Scientific Revolution)
Chair: Owen Gingerich
  • Owen Gingerich: “An Editor's Perspective”
  • Joseph N. Tatarewicz, NASA History Office and U. Maryland, Baltimore County: “Space Sciences”
  • David DeVorkin, NASM, Smithsonian: “Astrophysics”
  • Lief Robinson, Editor, Sky & Telescope: “A Participant's Views”
  • Robert Smith, NASM and Johns Hopkins U.: “Patronage”
  • Steven Dick, U.S. Naval Observatory: “The SETI Project”
  • Tom Williams, Rice U.: “Amateurs”
  • Karl Hufbauer, U. California, Irvine: “Solar Physics”
  • George Webb, Tennessee Technical U.: “Southwestern Astronomy”
4:30 - 5:30 pm Teaching History of Astronomy and Sharing of Syllabi
Chair: Richard Berendzen (The American University)
Note: Those who teach courses in history of astronomy are asked to bring about 50 copies of their syllabus to this session.
6:00 - 8:00 pm Conference Banquet, Morris Inn on the Notre Dame Campus
Invited Speaker: Brian Warner (Univ. of Cape Town): “The Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope”
8:00 - 10:00 pm Open Session at the Notre Dame Observatory
Sunday, June 25  
9:00 - 11:30 am Approaches to Ancient and Medieval Astronomy
Chairs: Leroy Doggett (U. S. Naval Observatory) and Steve McCluskey
  • James Evans (University of Puget Sound): “The New History of Ancient Greek Astronomy”
  • Ron Hicks (Ball State University): “Hints of Astronomy in Ancient Ireland”
  • Bruce Eastwood (University of Kentucky): “Doing the History of Astronomy in Early Medieval Europe”
  • Steve McCluskey (West Virginia University): “Some Tentative Steps toward a Taxonomy of Astronomies”
11:30 am - Noon Business Meeting
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