American Astronomy

A collective biography of more than 1200 individuals who were engaged in astronomical research, teaching or practice in the US between 1859 and 1940. The author provides facts and statistics on these astronomers, totalling the number with or without doctorates, the number who taught in colleges and universities versus those who were involved in industrial and government work, and the number of women versus men. He also addresses the question of power within the community: what it meant, who had it and what they did with it. Drawing on more than a decade of historical research, the book also focuses, through biographical sketches, on the human beings his data represents, illustrating how the changing structure of a scientific community can alter the career trajectories of its members and the nature of the scientific research they pursue.