This is a brief account of the professional life of the writer and of some of the people who influenced him along the way.

The Argument from Design is possibly the oldest attempt to 'prove' the existence of a deity, or, at least, to persuade people that it is reasonable to believe in one. Although the Argument has often been used in the context of biology, its use in the context of astronomy is arguably earlier. In this paper, its history in astronomical contexts is traced from ancient times to modern discussions of the 'fine tuning' of the Universe.

I read the series of articles responding to Stephen Hawking’s warning about the possible motivations of extra-terrestrial beings with interest and some surprise. The surprise arose from the apparen...

The Argument from Design is possibly the oldest attempt to 'prove' the existence of a deity, or, at least, to persuade people that it is reasonable to believe in one. Although the Argument has often been used in the context of biology, its use in the context of astronomy is arguably earlier. In this paper, its history in astronomical contexts is traced from ancient times to modern discussions of the 'fine tuning' of the Universe.

The emission profile of H a above the continuum in the spectrum of s Lyr appears to consist of two components, a one of total width about 1000 km sec1 and central intensity approximately equal to that of the neighboring continuum at midprimary eclipse, and a one of total width between 600 km sec1 and 700 km sec1 and central intensity several times that of the broad component. The total intensity of the emission remains approximately constant over time intervals comparable to the orbital period, the large apparent changes being mainly the results of the changing intensity of the stellar continua during the eclipses. From one year to another, however, real changes in the mean emission intensity may occur. The center of the narrow component shows little or no velocity shift throughout the orbital cycle. The center of the broad component shows shifts that could be interpreted as being opposite in phase to those shown by the primary (B8 absorption) spectrum. Preliminary measures of Hs and H y suggest that the Balmer decrement of the narrow component is appreciably steeper than that of the broad component. A tentative explanation of these facts is offered. The narrow component of the emission is believed to arise in a shell or ring surrounding the whole system, while the broad component comes from an envelope around the still unobserved secondary star. The satellite lines seen in the spectrum during primary eclipse are explained as absorption lines produced in the envelope, rather than as a direct result of absorption by gaseous streams. Actually there is only one gaseous stream in the system flowing from the B8 component toward its companion.

Auguste Comte is frequently ridiculed by astronomers for saying that human beings would never be able to know the physical nature and constitution of the stars. His philosophy, however, influenced scientists throughout his lifetime and for over a century after his death. That influence is traced here in the work of three outstanding scientists who spanned, roughly speaking, three successive generations after his own, namely, Ernst Mach, Max Planck and Arthur Stanley Eddington.

Observational errors are inevitable in astronomy, and statements of results are not complete without some estimate of the uncertainties involved. While we always strive to reduce those uncertainties, we know that some will remain. There have been times in the history of science when errors have masked second-order effects and actually assisted in the process of scientific discovery.

Although the University of St Andrews is much older, teaching of and research in modern astronomy began there little more than sixty years ago. Their inception was strongly associated with one man, Erwin Finlay-Freundlich. Some account is given here of his work in St Andrews and the influence he had on younger generations.(1)

William Herschel's solar model in which the Sun was believed to be a dark solid body surrounded by two atmospheres, of which the outer was luminous, continued to be accepted by astronomers well into the nineteenth century. Developments in spectroscopy and in our understanding of thermodynamics eventually led to the abandonment of this model in favour of one in which the Sun was considered to be gaseous throughout, but traces of the older theories can be found even in the early twentieth century.

I. Hubeny Welcome to the last panel meeting. We invite general comments either from the audience or from the panelists. V. Trimble Well, Mercedes started us with a vocabulary item and I think I would like to end with a vocabulary item. When they were first discovered, we called them ‘extra solar system planets’ which was descriptive and fine, but it's just rather cumbersome. At some point they became ‘extra solar planets.’ Now I have never seen a planet inside the Sun. And therefore ‘extrasolar’ is not a good descriptor. ‘Exoplanets’ is OK, but now that there are so many of them that perhaps they are simply ‘the planets.’ When you want to specialize to ours, you could say ‘solar system planets.’ Think how much ink it would save.

The Program Group for World-wide Development of Astronomy (PG-WWDA) is one of nine Commission 46 program groups engaged with various aspects of astronomical education or development of astronomy education and research in the developing world. In the case of PG-WWDA, its goals are to promote astronomy education and research in the developing world through a variety of activities, including visiting astronomers in developing countries and interacting with them by way of giving encouragement and support.