Book Description

This book is the fifth volume under the title Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy (OSA). These OSA Books are intended to cover a large range of fields and themes. In practice, one could say that all aspects of astronomy-related life and environment are considered in the spirit of sharing specific expertise and lessons learned. This book offers a unique collection of chapters dealing with socio-dynamical aspects of the astronomy (and related space sciences) community: characteristics of organizations, strategies for development, operational techniques, observing practicalities, educational policies, public outreach, publication studies, research communication, evaluation procedures, research indicators, national specificities, contemporary history, and so on. The experts contributing to this book have done their best to write in a way understandable to readers not necessarily hyperspecialized in astronomy while providing specific detailed information and sometimes enlightening ‘lessons learned’ sections. The book concludes with an updated bibliography of publications related to socio-astronomy and to the interactions of the astronomy community with the society at large. This book will be most usefully read by researchers, teachers, editors, publishers, librarians, sociologists of science, research planners and strategists, project managers, public-relations officers, plus those in charge of astronomy-related organizations, as well as by students aiming at a career in astronomy or related space science. The book includes a CD-ROM containing the visionary and fascinating work of L. Pešek as a space artist. "More than anything else, Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy is about change, recording where we've been and how we have evolved, and extrapolating to where we will be in the coming decades." Caty Pilachowski, outgoing President of the AAS