History of Astronomy in Australia: Big-Impact Astronomy from World War II until the Lunar Landing (1945-1969). (arXiv:2104.00901v1 [physics.hist-ph])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/physics/1/au:+Graham_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Alister W. Graham</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/physics/1/au:+Kenyon_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Katherine H. Kenyon</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/physics/1/au:+Bull_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Lochlan J. Bull</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/physics/1/au:+Don_V/0/1/0/all/0/1">Visura C. Lokuge Don</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/physics/1/au:+Kuhlmann_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kazuki Kuhlmann</a>
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, making it hard to find the
Australian astronomy articles from this period. 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 during the quarter of
a century after World War II, from 1945 until the lunar landing in 1969. This
required knowledge of the research centres and facilities operating at the
time, which are briefly summarised herein. Based on citation counts — an
objective, universally-used measure of scientific impact — we report on the
Australian astronomy articles which had the biggest impact. We have identified
the top-ten most-cited papers, and thus also their area of research, from five
consecutive time-intervals across that blossoming quarter-century of astronomy.
Moreover, we have invested a substantial amount of time researching and
providing a small tribute to each of the 62 scientists involved, including
several trail-blazing women. Furthermore, we provide an extensive list of
references and point out many interesting historical connections and anecdotes.
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, making it hard to find the
Australian astronomy articles from this period. 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 during the quarter of
a century after World War II, from 1945 until the lunar landing in 1969. This
required knowledge of the research centres and facilities operating at the
time, which are briefly summarised herein. Based on citation counts — an
objective, universally-used measure of scientific impact — we report on the
Australian astronomy articles which had the biggest impact. We have identified
the top-ten most-cited papers, and thus also their area of research, from five
consecutive time-intervals across that blossoming quarter-century of astronomy.
Moreover, we have invested a substantial amount of time researching and
providing a small tribute to each of the 62 scientists involved, including
several trail-blazing women. Furthermore, we provide an extensive list of
references and point out many interesting historical connections and anecdotes.
http://arxiv.org/icons/sfx.gif
