Publications
- Toner Stevenson
- Sep 24
- 8 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
Here are some useful links to publications and papers:
The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service provides a gateway to current and historic online Astronomy and Physics literature.
The CSIRO's Historical Records of Australian Science includes the history of astronomy in Australia and New Zealand.
The Royal Society of New South Wales Journal and Proceedings includes astronomy in its on-line historic database of papers and abstracts of doctoral theses. The index is available here.
PUBLICATIONS LIST
The following list is only the beginning of the resources the HAAC Chapter is creating to help researchers.
Date: 2010
Author/s: Haynes, R., Haynes, R. D., Malin, D., and McGee, R.,
Title: Explorers of the Southern Sky
Book: Cambridge University Press
Contents: 1. Dreaming the stars; 2. Sailing south for a new sky; 3. Astronomy in Sydney town; 4. The struggle for independence; 5. A bid for fame; 6. For love of the subject; 7. Astronomy on a national basis; 8. From swords to ploughshares; 9. Radio astronomy and the big telescopes; 10. Entrepreneurs in astronomy; 11. The advantage of latitude; 12. The high-energy frontier; 13. Diversity through innovation; 14. Optical astronomy goes high tech; 15. A telescope as wide as a continent; Glossary of abbreviations; Glossary of scientific and technical words; Bibliography;
Tags: Observatories, Radio astronomy, Indigenous astronomy
Date: 2010
Author: Watson, F.
Title: Obituary: Sidney Charles Bartholomew 'Ben' Gascoigne (1915 - 2010).
Journal: The Observatory
Link where available): https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Obs...130..274W
Abstract: n/a
Tags: Biographies, Obituaries
Date: 1999
Author/s: Watson, F., Bell, R.
Title: 25 years at the AAT.
Journal: Astronomy Now, 13, pp. 22-25.
Abstract: n/a
Tags: Observatories
Date: 2024
Author/s: Wendt, H., George, M., Orchiston, W.
Title: The history of early low frequency radio astronomy in Australia: Reber, Higgins and the mooted all-sky survey with the Shain Cross.
Journal (publication): Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 27, 3, p.p. 655-673.
Abstract: During the 1950s and 1960s, Australia was a world leader in the specialised field of low frequency radio astronomy, with two geographically distinct areas of activity. One was in the Sydney region run by the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics (RP), and the other was on the island of Tasmania to the south of the Australian mainland, undertaken by the radio astronomy pioneer Grote Reber, and researchers for the University of Tasmania. This paper deals with Reber's interactions with RP, his unpublished research based on observations taken by Charlie Higgins using the 19.7 MHz Shain Cross in August 1960 and Reber's unsuccessful efforts to lobby for RP to complete a southern sky survey using the Shain Cross.
Tags: Radio Astronomy
Date: 2023.
Author/s: Fuller, R. S. and Hamacher, D. W.
Title: The Astronomy of the Aboriginal Peoples of the Sydney Basin
Book: Essays on Astronomical History and Heritage. A Tribute to Wayne Orchiston on his 80th Birthday. New York, NY: Springer New York, 2023, pp. 635-659
Abstract: We present results of a preliminary study of the astronomical knowledge and traditions of the seven major Aboriginal language groups in the Sydney Basin. We establish a basic dataset of oral traditions (stories), vocabulary, and examples of cultural heritage relating to astronomical traditions. Using a combination of primarily ethno-historical documents and material culture, we explore the relationship between Aboriginal astronomical knowledge and cultural traditions, cosmology, natural resources, calendar development, law, ceremony, and material traditions. We conduct a thematic analysis of the collected information and place this within a larger framework of comparative analysis with other Aboriginal communities in south-eastern Australia in general.
Tags: Indigenous Astronomy
Date: 2023
Author/s: Goss, W. M., Hooker, C., Ekers, R. D., and Pawsey, J. L.,
Title: Joe Pawsey and the founding of Australian radio astronomy: early discoveries, from the sun to the cosmos.
Book: Cham: Springer International Publishing. OCLC: 1363828567
Abstract: This open access book is a biography of Joseph L. Pawsey. It examines not only his life but the birth and growth of the field of radio astronomy and the state of science itself in twentieth century Australia. The book explains how an isolated continent with limited resources grew to be one of the leaders in the study of radio astronomy and the design of instruments to do so. Pawsey made a name for himself in the international astronomy community within a decade after WWII and coined the term radio astronomy. He recruited young scientists who became the technical and methodological innovators of the era, building new telescopes from the Mills Cross and Chris (Christiansen) Cross to the Parkes radio telescope…
Tags: Biographies; Obituaries; Radio astronomy
Date: 2022
Author: de Grijs, R.
Title: Gravitational conundrum: confusing clock-rate measurements on the 'First Fleet' from England to Australia.
Journal: Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 25, 4, p.p. 737-744.
Link where available): https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022JAHH...25..737D
Abstract: Voyages of exploration often included astronomers among their crew to aid with maritime navigation. William Dawes, a British Marine who had been trained in practical astronomy, was assigned to the 'First Fleet', a convoy of eleven ships that left England in May 1787 bound for Botany Bay (Sydney, Australia). Dawes was also expected to take measurements of the local gravitational acceleration, g, at any port of call by measuring the daily rate by which his Shelton pendulum clock differed from that at Greenwich, its calibration location. Although Dawes and Nevil Maskelyne, Britain's fifth Astronomer Royal, had planned to obtain clock-rate…
Tags: Colonial Era (pre-1901)
Date: 2004
Author: Lomb, N.
Title: The Instruments from Parramatta Observatory
Journal: Historical Records of Australian Science, 15, 2, pp. 211-222
Abstract: Sydney Observatory, Australia's oldest existing observatory, was built in 1858 on what is now called Observatory Hill. With such a long continuous history the Observatory has a good collection of astronomical instruments relating to its own history. Moreover, the collection extends further back to Parramatta Observatory, set up in 1821 by Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane. After the closure of that observatory in 1847 its instruments were retained in the colony and given to the fledgling Sydney Observatory on its establishment…
This paper discusses the use of these instruments at Parramatta and their subsequent fate at Sydney Observatory.
Related source: Powerhouse collection: https://collection.powerhouse.com.au/
Tags: Observatories, Colonial Era (pre-1901)
Date: 2015
Author: Lomb, N.
Title: How Astronomers Focused the Scope of their Discussions: The Formation of the Astronomical Society of Australia.
Journal: Historical Records of Australian Science 26, 36-57.
Abstract: Scientific societies provide an important forum for scientists to meet and exchange ideas. In the early days of European settlement in Australia the few people interested in the sciences joined together to form societies that embraced all their individual disciplines. From 1888 the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science with its different sections allowed a growing number of astronomers to share meetings only with researchers in the closely allied fields of mathematics and physics. Eventually, all three of these groups formed their own societies with the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) being the last in 1966…
Related website: https://asa.astronomy.org.au/
Tags: Astronomical Society of Australia
Date: 2020
Author: Lomb, N.
Title: Australia and the International Astronomical Union: the 1973 Sydney general assembly
Journal: Historical Records of Australian Science 31, 118-126.
Abstract: Formed in 1919, the International Astronomical Union is the international body representing professional astronomers. Australia joined the union soon after its formation but, due to financial difficulties, dropped out for a few years until re-joining just before World War 2…After Australia’s bid to host a general assembly in 1967 or 1970 was unsuccessful, another bid was made for 1973. This second bid was accepted by the union’s executive council and confirmed in a letter from the union’s general secretary. The five years of planning and organisation for the assembly were made difficult by several external threats…Despite this and other problems, the 1973 general assembly was regarded as highly successful.
Related website: https://asa.astronomy.org.au/
Tags: Astronomical Society of Australia
Date: 2014
Author: Stevenson, T.
Title: Making Visible the First Women in Astronomy in Australia: The Measurers and Computers Employed for the Astrographic Catalogue
Journal: Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, Volume 31.
Abstract: In Australia a significant number of women were employed to measure and compute the position of stars for the Astrographic Catalogue at Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth Observatories. New archival research has provided evidence that the first women employed in astronomy in Australia were engaged due to this project.
Tags: Women in astronomy, Observatories
Date: 2023
Author: Stevenson, T.
Title: Melbourne Observatory's Astrographic women: star measurers and computers
Journal: Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 26, 2, p.p. 325-338.
Abstract: In Australia a significant number of women were employed to measure, log and calculate the position of stars for the Astrographic Catalogue at Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth Observatories…This paper provides a background to the social, legal and gender-specific barriers women faced and then focuses on the first women employed at Melbourne Observatory to measure the stars on glass plate negatives and calculate their relative positions. Charlotte Peel, Lillian Lewis, Muriel Heagney and Sarah Noonan, who worked for various periods of time on the Astrographic Catalogue between 1898 and 1918, are case studied…
Tags: Women in astronomy, Observatories
Date: 1994
Author: Edwards, P. G.
Title: The Adelaide Observatory after Todd
Journal: Astronomical Society of Australia, Proceedings, 11, 2, p.p. 206-210
Abstract: Charles Todd, who established the Adelaide Observatory on West Terrace in 1860, retired as Government Astronomer at the end of 1906. In 1908 the meteorological duties of the Observatory were taken over by the Commonwealth, and the Observatory lost most of its staff. Following the promotion of George Dodwell to the position of Government Astronomer in 1909, the Observatory was slowly re-established and undertook a range of astronomical and other work, which is described in detail in this paper. The Observatory was transferred to the University of Adelaide in 1940. Dodwell finished working as Government Astronomer in 1952.
Tags: Observatories
Date: 2021
Author/s: Graham, A. W., Kenyon, K. H., Bull, L. J., Lokuge Don, V. C., and Kuhlmann, K.,
Title: History of Astronomy in Australia: Big-Impact Astronomy from World War II until the Lunar Landing (1945–1969)
Journal: Galaxies, 9, 2, article id. 24, 2021
Abstract: Radio astronomy commenced in earnest after World War II, with Australia keenly engaged through the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. At this juncture, Australia's Commonwealth Solar Observatory expanded its portfolio from primarily studying solar phenomena to conducting stellar and extragalactic research. Subsequently, in the 1950s and 1960s, astronomy gradually became taught and researched in Australian universities. However, most scientific publications from this era of growth and discovery have no country of affiliation in their header information... In 2014, we used the then-new Astrophysics Data System (ADS) tool Bumblebee to overcome this challenge and track down the Australian-led astronomy papers published…after World War II, from 1945 until the lunar landing in 1969…
Tags: Radio astronomy, Women in astronomy
Date: 2023
Author/s: Lomb, N., Stevenson, T.
Title: Eclipse Chasers
Book: CSIRO Publishing
Abstract: Eclipse Chasers is a guide to past and future Australian total solar eclipses, exploring historical and cultural knowledge... The science of eclipses is explained, as well as how to prepare for an eclipse and view it safely. For upcoming eclipses the best locations to view each one are revealed, alongside tips for taking photographs. The book also reveals untold stories of how past Australian astronomers observed the total eclipses that have occurred since European settlement, and how these eclipses were celebrated in popular culture, poetry and art. It explores the great significance of solar eclipses for First Nations peoples, and their observations and cultural meanings.
Tags: Solar eclipses, astronomers, women in astronomy
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