Journal

The year 1979 marks the 20th anniversary of the first publication in a scientific journal of a realistic strategy of a search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. The article, entitled "Searching for Interstellar Communications", was written by Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison, both then of Cornell University and appeared in NATURE.* By perceptive, incisive reasoning the authors develop the proposal that a search be made of some of the nearest sun-like stars for signals at or near the 21 ,-centimeter wavelength of neutral hydrogen.
It is most appropriate that in this, the first issue of COSMIC SEARCH, this article by Cocconi and Morrison, now a classic of classics, is reproduced (with mathematics omitted). For historical interest, the first page of the article is reproduced just as it appeared. Following this article, Morrison reflects on the search from the perspective of two decades.--Eds.

In all the history of radio astronomy the pulsing signals discovered at Cambridge, England, in 1967 were the most suggestive of an extraterrestrial intelligent origin that have ever been detected. In this article, Jocelyn Bell Burnell tells a delightful, personal story of how she first encountered the signals and what ensued.-Eds

AVISTA is a scholarly organization organized in 1984 through the urging of the late Jean Gimpel (author of The Medieval Machine, The Cathedral Builders, and other works on medieval art and technology) and with the support of Lynn White, Jr. (author of Medieval Technology and Social Change). The articles of incorporation were written in January 1985 and sessions began at Kalamazoo in 1986. The society serves as an organization to promote any and all aspects of medieval topics which relate to the practical sciences or technology. Our "home" is largely the International Congress on Medieval Studies held at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, where each May we sponsor up to a half dozen sessions on various themes. A full list of the upcoming year's sessions, as well as past years' sessions, may be found in the Kalamazoo section of this web site.

Wollen Sie mehr Wissenswertes erfahren auf dem gefächerten Gebeit der Sternkunde, dann ist die SAG-eigene Zeitschrift ORION die richtige Lektüre für Sie. ORION erscheint alle zwei Monate und enthält zahlreiche illustrierte Beiträge von Fach- und Hobby-Astronomen, so zum Beispiel:

Aufsätze über astronomische Themen und Weltraumfahrt
Vorschauen auf astronomische Ereignisse
Berichte und Auswertungen von Beobachtungen
Beiträge zur Astrofotografie
Anregungen zum Selbstbau von astronomischen Instrumenten
Astronomie und Informatik
Frage-Ecke
Gesellschaftsinterene Mitteilungen
Buchbesprechungen
Die Zeitschrift erscheint mehrsprachig, mit Artikeln in Deutsch, Französisch und Englisch. Die Auflage beträge 2800 Exemplare. ORION erscheint in den Monaten Februar, April, Juni, August, Oktober und Dezember.

How many times have you leafed through dozens of issues of Sky & Telescope because you are certain that there was an article about some astronomer in it? This index should save you some time, but it is not intended to be an all-encompassing document. I first began working on it from my own issues (Sep. 1965 onward) in order to fill out the name index for a book. I was primarily interested in references to articles that listed birth and death dates. When I went back to complete the index back to Vol. 1, No. 1, I decided to include information of a more general nature. Of course it is not possible (or necessary) to include all the references to astronomers such as Galileo, Kepler, or even Henry Norris Russell, but how else are you going to find a reference to Dr. G. Waltemath or to the astronomical pirate, Basil Ringrose?

The History of the Earth Sciences Society (HESS) was founded in 1982 to help satisfy four needs.
First, the gap between the humanities and the sciences is bridged by some historians interested in the history of earth science, and by some geoscientists interested in the history of their fields. A society to which both historians and earth scientists belong allows for mutually beneficial exchanges of ideas.
Second, because the history of earth science is a global topic, a national group or a commission with limited membership may not be suitably flexible. A society open to all and cosmopolitan in composition and outlook provides this element of breadth.
Third, in the past, even with all the other journals available, it has been difficult to find an outlet for scholarly works in the history of the earth sciences. A prime goal of the new society was immediate establishment of a refereed journal to serve the needs of its members.
Fourth, historical studies of ideas concerning the Earth, institutions involved in such research, and prominent workers have seldom received much attention. With greater prominence and a journal dedicated to the field, more support for intellectual endeavors in the broad domain of geoscience history has been forthcoming.

Australasian Association for the History,
Philosophy and Social Studies of Science
AAHPSSS Newsletter and Conference Presentations
AAHPSSS Newsletter, No.49, March 1995
AAHPSSS Newsletter, No.48, August 1994
WWW meets HPS/STS - A DIY Guide
Presentation by Tim Sherratt at the AAHPSSS Conference 1995

AN is the oldest astronomical journal of the world that is still being published. In its renewed appearance it is intended to serve as a supplement in all fields of astrophysical research including instrumentation, numerical methods, solar and stellar astrophysics, extragalactic and cosmological research. It can be used also for refereed workshop proceedings.

Welcome to the American Scientist Online archive of back-issue content. Members and subscribers have full access to the content of recent back issues. Selected content is available for issues prior to 1998. These items are listed as "Classics."

American Artifacts Articles online
A sampling of articles from the print publication