Solar System Astronomy in America: Communities, Patronage, and Interdisciplinary Science, 1920–1960 - Softcover

Doel, Ronald E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 052111568X ISBN 13: 9780521115681

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Between 1920 and 1960 astronomers began working with scientists in other fields in order to better understand the nature of the solar system. Researchers made wide-ranging attempts to solve such problems as the nature of lunar and terrestrial craters, the origin of comets and meteors, and the birth of the solar system. While often tinged with controversy, this work provided the foundation for planetary science in the space age. Exploiting previously unused archival material, Ronald Doel investigates this emerging interdisciplinary scientific community and its influence on astronomy, meteorology, geology, and geophysics. He examines how studies in planetary science were influenced by shifts in institutional mandates, new research techniques, and Cold War government-military funding. Above all, the book explores an important branch of what is now called the environmental sciences. This book will interest historians of science as well as astronomers.

About this title

Book Description

Ronald Doel examines how interdisciplinary scientists, from 1920-1960, collaborated to better understand the solar system, recounting such episodes as Jan Oort's "comet cloud," Eugene Shoemaker's use of atomic weapons test results to study celestial impacts, and the Gerard Kuiper-Harold Urey dispute over the moon's evolution. Employing abundant archival research, the book explores the social, institutional, and intellectual history of an emerging field, simultaneously illuminating the maturation of earth and environmental sciences.

From the Back Cover

Between 1920 and 1960 astronomers began working with scientists in other fields to improve their understanding of the nature of the solar system. Well before the launch of Sputnik, researchers made wide-ranging attempts to solve such problems as the nature of lunar and terrestrial craters, the origin of comets and meteors, and the birth of the solar family. Their achievements included the Oort cloud and Kuiper belt concepts. Cooperation among specialists often dissolved in controversy - including the famous Kuiper-Urey conflict over the Moon's history - yet their work provided the foundation for planetary science in the space age. Exploiting previously unused archival material, Ronald E. Doel investigates the emergence of this interdisciplinary scientific community and its influence on research in astronomy, meteorology, geology, and geophysics. He examines how studies in planetary science were influenced by shifts in institutional mandates, new research techniques, and government-military funding during the cold war. One example analyzed is the challenge to the geological doctrine of uniformitarianism that emerged in light of cold-war weapons research. Above all, this book explores an important branch of earth science, central to what we now call the environmental sciences.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 052111568X
• ISBN 13: 9780521115681
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 316