[1.04] ``What is a Theorist Doing in the Stratosphere?"

AAS 201st Meeting, January, 2003
Session 1. HAD I: Special Topics in the History of Astronomy
Special, Sunday, January 5, 2003, 2:00-6:00pm, East Room (Sheraton)

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[1.04] ``What is a Theorist Doing in the Stratosphere?"

D. H. DeVorkin (National Air and Space Museum Smithsonian)

How did Martin Schwarzschild become PI on a project to study the Sun using a robotic telescope under a balloon floating in the stratosphere? And after he made observations sufficient for his needs, why did he continue to sponsor ever-larger ballooning projects? What does Schwarzschild's experience tell us about how the profession of astronomy in America changed in the years just before, and in the wake of, Sputnik?

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: david.devorkin@nasm.si.edu

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