Title: American astronomy
First published: 1997
Description: Depending upon and interacting with colleagues and competitors, scientists build their careers and power within communities of their peers. To understand scientists and the institutions they construct (such as the reward system), one must first unravel the complex structures and relationships that define scientific communities.

In this collective biography of the more than 1,200 individuals who engaged in astronomical research, teaching, or practice in the United States between 1859 and 1940, John Lankford paints a detailed portrait of this scientific community.

Focusing on a period that saw fundamental changes in the nature and content of astronomy, including the rise of astrophysics, Lankford has compiled remarkable data, such as the number of people with and without doctorates, the number who taught in colleges or universities versus those involved in industrial or government work, and the number of women versus men. He also addresses the crucial question of power within the community - what it meant, which astronomers had it, and what they did with it.

Drawing on more than a decade of archival research and quantitative analysis, Lankford presents his data in concise tables and figures yet takes care, through biographical sketches, to focus on the human beings the data represent. This dual approach convincingly illustrates how the changing structure of a scientific community can alter both the career trajectories of its members and the nature of the scientific research they choose to pursue.
Subjects: Astronomy, History, Astronomy, history
Places: United States
Time periods: 20th century, 19th century
LC classification: QB33.U6 L36 1997