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Written Biography

I received my PhD in physics from UC Berkeley in 1974, after which I taught for three years at the University of Nairobi (Kenya). This was followed by several years at JPL working on the Voyager Mission. I have been with the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona since 1983. I have worked extensively in both planetary science (Voyager Mission) and in stellar astronomy (white dwarf stars). This has involved work with a number of space missions as well as an active ground-based observing program. Presently my research activities focus on various aspects of white dwarf stars. For the past five years I have also been involved in undergraduate teaching.

Candidate Statement

I have always had an interest in the history of astronomy and in particular in the origins and development of key scientific ideas. It was my long involvement with observing and studying the star Sirius that shifted my historical interest from mere curiosity to active historical research and my decision to join HAD. In 2007 I published a well received book on Sirius: "Sirius Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky" that contained a very large historical content. The research material for this book was later developed into three historical white dwarf related academic papers in the Journal for the History of Astronomy. I have every intention of attending future AAS winter meetings and of being available to serve a HAD officer.

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Written Biography

As an undergraduate at Villanova University, Marc Rothenberg studied history and astronomy. He received his Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science from Bryn Mawr College. After a thirty-one year career with the Joseph Henry Papers Project at the Smithsonian Institution, including twenty-one years as editor and director, he became the agency historian for the National Science Foundation. He has published on nineteenth- and early twentieth-century astronomy. He was one of the co-founders, along with Michael Crowe and John Lankford, of the Notre Dame Biennial History of Astronomy Workshops. Currently, he is a member of the HAD Prize Committee.

Candidate Statement

Intellectually, HAD is in excellent shape. The scholarly content of the papers presented at the meetings is very high. But in other areas there are challenges as we look to the future of HAD. We need to continue to work hard to attract young scholars, both historians and astronomers, to HAD to ensure the continuing vitality of the organization. And to ensure that these young scholars have source material to work with, I would make the preservation of astronomical data and personal records a priority, as it has been for a number of previous chairs. I am particularly concerned about the preservation of electronic records, especially e-mail, and I hope to encourage more activity on that issue.

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Written Biography

Jennifer Lynn Bartlett earned her bachelor's degree in physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1990 and her doctorate in astronomy from the University of Virginia in 2007. For her dissertation, she took the last photographic plates with the 26" Clark refractor at Leander McCormick Observatory to look for van de Kamp's planets around Barnard's Star. Her career has spanned teaching (astronomy and physics), engineering (satellites and ships), and politics (legislative and campaign). At the U.S. Naval Observatory, she currently develops code for their almanacs and Web services. Her personal research focuses on characterizing the Solar Neighborhood through astrometry. In her spare time, she is studying the astrolabe and fencing as a mediaeval re-enactor.

Candidate Statement

Understanding the historical and cultural context in which astronomical discoveries occurred provides perspective on the controversies and challenges encountered in the discipline today. The inclusion of this background in EPO programs helps students and the public connect with the scientific material. Astronomical archives contain a valuable legacy of observations that should continue to be a resource for scientific inquiry and historical evaluation. With its mix of historians and astronomers, HAD should continue to promote these activities and raise awareness of them within the AAS generally. Each of us is fortunate to study an aspect of astronomy, which as Plato wrote, "compels the soul to look upwards..."

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Written Biography

Linda (May) French earned her A. B. degree in astronomy from Indiana University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in planetary astronomy from Cornell University. She taught astronomy to undergraduates at MIT, pre-service elementary teachers at Wheelock, and eighth graders at the Park School in Brookline, MA before moving to Illinois Wesleyan University where she teaches astronomy, astrophysics, the history of astronomy, and the occasional writing course on the music of the Beatles. Her astronomical research takes her frequently to observatories in Arizona and Chile, accompanied by students. She has served as Education Officer of the AAS's Division for Planetary Sciences and has worked to develop curriculum and lead teacher workshops at the Center for Astrophysics. Her historical research has focused on the work of John Goodricke and Edward Pigott, eighteenth-century English astronomy, and interactions between professional and amateur astronomers.

Candidate Statement

It is the history of a discipline that tells us how individuals went about their work, and how current beliefs shape the science of the time. As a vibrant mixture of astronomers with an interest in history and historians of sciences, the HAD can play a valuable role in documenting and interpreting the work of astronomers of our own time and of previous eras. I have benefited greatly from the use of archives, often small and underfunded, and I will work to achieve greater support for these valuable facilities.

Professional Title/Position

Affiliations

Written Biography

BS, Caltech, 1966; MS, PhD, UCLA, 1975. Science Division JPL, 1974-2002; Space Science Institute, 2002-2010; semi-retired, part time with small research company since then. DDA/AAS Committee 1978-1980, Brouwer Award Committee, 1985-1988, Chair of DDA, 1991-1992: DPS/AAS Committee, 1992-1995, Secretary-Treasurer, 1995-2001. Member of AGU, IAU, AAS, Fellow of AAAS, Chair of AAAS Astronomy Division, 2002-2003.

Candidate Statement

As can be seen from the above, I have had extensive experience in various offices of AAS divisions, including organizing and hosting a number of meetings. For many HAD members, myself included, history is a "hobby" for which we are not paid, even expenses. I am concerned over the high cost of attending HAD meetings that are joint with AAS, and will focus on lowering those costs, especially for those of us who would not attend the main AAS sessions. Options worth exploring are more substantially reduced registration rate for HAD-only attendance, or meeting jointly with other Divisions, or even independently.

Professional Title/Position

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Written Biography

Wayne Orchiston has B.A. (Hons.) and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Sydney. After stints at the Carter Observatory (NZ), Anglo-Australian Observatory and Australia Telescope National Facility, he joined James Cook University in 2005, where he supervises off-campus Ph.D. students. In December 2012 when the astronomy program closes he will move to the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand.

Wayne is an FRAS, a former Secretary of IAU Commission 41, and founder of the IAU Working Groups on Historic Radio Astronomy and Transits of Venus. He has researched Cook voyage, Australian, British, French, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, New Zealand, Thai and US astronomy, with emphasis on transits of Venus; early radio astronomy; historic telescopes and observatories; asteroids, comets, meteors and meteorites; solar eclipses; early astronomical societies; and the amateur-professional interface. He has more than 300 astronomy publications, and is the co-founder and editor of the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage.

Candidate Statement

Over the past forty years I have conducted research on a wide range of history of astronomy topics, so I am keen to see that the HAD continues to support all areas of history of astronomy (including applied historical astronomy, ethnoastronomy and archaeoastronomy). I strongly support the HAD winter meetings, which serve as an important catalyst for history of astronomy research. I believe that the HAD should encourage the teaching of more undergraduate and graduate history of astronomy programs in universities around the world. Finally, as a non-US resident, I am happy to advertise the international nature of the HAD.