Hostname: page-component-cc8bf7c57-llmch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-12T01:45:21.502Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Public perception of astronomers Revered, reviled and ridiculed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2011

Michael J. West*
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107Santiago, Chile email: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Society's view of astronomers has changed over time and from culture to culture. This review discusses some of the many ways that astronomers have been perceived by their societies and suggests ways that astronomers can influence public perception of ourselves and our profession in the future.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

References

Aveni, A. F. 1993, Ancient Astronomers (Montreal and Wasington DC: St, Remy Press and Smithsonian Institution), p. 149Google Scholar
Gerbner, G. & Lonson, B. 1999, “Images of Scientists in Prime Time Television: A Report for the U.S. Department of Commerce for the Cultural Indicators Research Project.” Unpublished report. Cited in U.S. National Science Board document Science and Engineering Indicators - 2002 (NSB-02-1). http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind02/c0/c0s1.htmGoogle Scholar
Jewitt, D. & Luu, J. 2007, Daedalus, 136, 132CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mencken, H. L. 1956, Minority Report (New York: Knopf), p. 74Google Scholar
Needham, J. 1959, Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 3: Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 193Google Scholar
West, M. J. 2005, A Gentle Rain of Starlight: The Story of Astronomy on Mauna Kea. (Honolulu: Island Heritage Publishing), p. 19Google Scholar
Whitman, W. & Long, L. (Illustrator) 2004, When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer (New York: Simon & Schuster)Google Scholar