David H. Smith

Newton, Halley, and the CometOwen Gingerich, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for AstrophysicsIN 1696 Britain faced a coinage crisis.For years the irregular edges of hand-struck coins had been systematically clipped by thieves, who made a precarious living by selling the tiny silver chips. Finally, the...

focal pointIs the U. S. Abandoning the Solar System?WE certainly abandoned the Moon in 1972, at the end of the Apollo program. Now NASA estimates that to return would require 10 years and cost more than Apollo did. Some people fear that a similar retreat is in store for our explorations of the...

focal pointSupernova 1987A and the PressThe debut of a "new star" was a tough act for the mass media to cover. Although SN 1987A was the astronomical event of the century (so far!), it couldn't have been predicted and took place in the far-southern sky, slowing communication with observers on the...

FOCAL POINTIn Defense of Casual AstronomyThe press has run a lot of stories lately about the "serious" side of amateur astronomy. There seems to be growing respect for the quality of amateurs' work, and that's good. But is the emphasis on promoting amateur research good for astronomy as a hobby?...

The Triumph of Dorothea KlumpkeKenneth Weitzenhoffer, Brooklyn, New YorkThe balloon La Centaure, bathed in the light of the full Moon, rose over Paris into a bitter wind a few minutes after 1:00 a.m. on November 16, 1899. Its task was to carry an astronomer above the autumn ground fog to observe...

The Celestial SolitaireGordon Moyer, Rittenhouse Astronomical SocietyA THOUSAND miles off the east coast of Madagascar, a barren range of hills rises from the Indian Ocean. It is the island of Rodrigues, which played a small but curious role in the history of two sciences: astronomy and...

The Making of a Better MoonA THICK, formidable-looking book arrived at the office recently. Its stark jet-black cover declares "Origin of the Moon," and for 781 pages dozens of contributors address the esoterica of lunar science. Here can be found an entire chapter on how iridium, plutonium, and...