Andrew Yee[_1_]
April 29th 08, 02:23 AM
University of California-Santa Barbara
CONTACT
Andrea Estrada, 805-893-4620
FEATURED RESEARCHERS
W. Patrick McCray, 805-893-2665
April 22, 2008
New Book by UCSB Historian Examines Citizen-Scientists and the Dawn of the
Space Age
Santa Barbara, Calif. -- When the Soviets launched the satellite Sputnik in
1957, thousands of people around the world seized the opportunity to become
citizen-scientists and take an active part in the dawning space age. Known
as Moonwatchers, these teenagers, homemakers, schoolteachers, and otherwise
amateur astronomers provided professional astronomers with critical and
otherwise unavailable information about the satellite's movement. In a new
book published this week titled "Keep Watching the Skies!: The Story of
Operation Moonwatch and the Dawn of the Space Age" (Princeton University
Press, 2008), W. Patrick McCray, a professor of history at the University of
California, Santa Barbara, tells the story of this network of pioneers who
participated in what is perhaps the greatest science endeavor of the 20th
century.
"Until professionally manned optical tracking stations came online in 1958,
the Moonwatchers played a crucial role in providing key information," said
McCray. "And even after the optical tracking stations became operational,
the Moonwatchers still provided important information."
Established a year before the Sputnik launch, the Operation Moonwatch
program was a formal initiative of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
(SAO) located in Cambridge, Mass. Its goal was to enlist the aid of
citizen-scientists in the efforts of the observatory's professional
astronomers to track the first satellites.
Whether in California, Indiana, New York, or anywhere else in the world
where the SAO had established optical tracking stations, Moonwatch teams
would use their telescopes to gather data regarding Sputnik's location and
transmit their findings to the observatory in Cambridge. Scientists there
would compare the Moonwatchers' findings with the predictions calculated by
the observatory's computers.
Moonwatching became a serious endeavor, according to McCray, with teams
creating their own logos and stationary and holding open houses for people
who wanted to learn more about Sputnik and satellites in general. Many team
members sported Moonwatch pins provided by Convair, the United States
aerospace company that developed and manufactured -- among other missiles,
rockets, and aircraft -- the first-generation intercontinental ballistic
missile. In addition, Moonwatch teams participated in special practice
drills to test their accuracy and efficiency.
"Civil Air Patrol planes would fly over a designated practice area trailing
a length of clothesline to which a toilet plunger was attached at the end. A
light fixed inside the rubber end of the plunger simulated the appearance of
a satellite," said McCray.
Drawing on previously unexamined letters, photos, scrapbooks, and
interviews, McCray recreates a pivotal event from a perspective never before
examined -- that of ordinary people who jumped at the chance to take part in
the excitement of space exploration.
McCray specializes in American science during the Cold War, the history of
modern physical science and technology, and the history of early modern
craft technologies. He is also a researcher at UCSB's Center for
Nanotechnology in Society. He received his Ph.D. from the University of
Arizona in 1996. He is the author of the "Giant Telescopes: Astronomical
Ambition and the Promise of Technology" (Harvard University Press, 2004) and
"Glassmaking in Renaissance Venice: The Fragile Craft" (Ashgate Publishing,
1999). His current research on nanotechnology considers recent developments
in nanoelectronics and how new developments in areas such as quantum dots
and spintroncs fit into the larger history of the United States electronics
industry. In addition, McCray is at work on a new book that examines the
history of various exploratory technologies in the 1970's and 80's,
including nanotechnology and space exploration.
RELATED LINKS
* W. Patrick McCray
http://www.history.ucsb.edu/people/person.php?account_id=14
* Princeton U. Press
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8645.html
CONTACT
Andrea Estrada, 805-893-4620
FEATURED RESEARCHERS
W. Patrick McCray, 805-893-2665
April 22, 2008
New Book by UCSB Historian Examines Citizen-Scientists and the Dawn of the
Space Age
Santa Barbara, Calif. -- When the Soviets launched the satellite Sputnik in
1957, thousands of people around the world seized the opportunity to become
citizen-scientists and take an active part in the dawning space age. Known
as Moonwatchers, these teenagers, homemakers, schoolteachers, and otherwise
amateur astronomers provided professional astronomers with critical and
otherwise unavailable information about the satellite's movement. In a new
book published this week titled "Keep Watching the Skies!: The Story of
Operation Moonwatch and the Dawn of the Space Age" (Princeton University
Press, 2008), W. Patrick McCray, a professor of history at the University of
California, Santa Barbara, tells the story of this network of pioneers who
participated in what is perhaps the greatest science endeavor of the 20th
century.
"Until professionally manned optical tracking stations came online in 1958,
the Moonwatchers played a crucial role in providing key information," said
McCray. "And even after the optical tracking stations became operational,
the Moonwatchers still provided important information."
Established a year before the Sputnik launch, the Operation Moonwatch
program was a formal initiative of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
(SAO) located in Cambridge, Mass. Its goal was to enlist the aid of
citizen-scientists in the efforts of the observatory's professional
astronomers to track the first satellites.
Whether in California, Indiana, New York, or anywhere else in the world
where the SAO had established optical tracking stations, Moonwatch teams
would use their telescopes to gather data regarding Sputnik's location and
transmit their findings to the observatory in Cambridge. Scientists there
would compare the Moonwatchers' findings with the predictions calculated by
the observatory's computers.
Moonwatching became a serious endeavor, according to McCray, with teams
creating their own logos and stationary and holding open houses for people
who wanted to learn more about Sputnik and satellites in general. Many team
members sported Moonwatch pins provided by Convair, the United States
aerospace company that developed and manufactured -- among other missiles,
rockets, and aircraft -- the first-generation intercontinental ballistic
missile. In addition, Moonwatch teams participated in special practice
drills to test their accuracy and efficiency.
"Civil Air Patrol planes would fly over a designated practice area trailing
a length of clothesline to which a toilet plunger was attached at the end. A
light fixed inside the rubber end of the plunger simulated the appearance of
a satellite," said McCray.
Drawing on previously unexamined letters, photos, scrapbooks, and
interviews, McCray recreates a pivotal event from a perspective never before
examined -- that of ordinary people who jumped at the chance to take part in
the excitement of space exploration.
McCray specializes in American science during the Cold War, the history of
modern physical science and technology, and the history of early modern
craft technologies. He is also a researcher at UCSB's Center for
Nanotechnology in Society. He received his Ph.D. from the University of
Arizona in 1996. He is the author of the "Giant Telescopes: Astronomical
Ambition and the Promise of Technology" (Harvard University Press, 2004) and
"Glassmaking in Renaissance Venice: The Fragile Craft" (Ashgate Publishing,
1999). His current research on nanotechnology considers recent developments
in nanoelectronics and how new developments in areas such as quantum dots
and spintroncs fit into the larger history of the United States electronics
industry. In addition, McCray is at work on a new book that examines the
history of various exploratory technologies in the 1970's and 80's,
including nanotechnology and space exploration.
RELATED LINKS
* W. Patrick McCray
http://www.history.ucsb.edu/people/person.php?account_id=14
* Princeton U. Press
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8645.html