How the Scientists of the 1960’s Turned the Moon into a Place | Aeon Essays
“It can be easy to take our maps, images and story of the Moon for granted. But over the past six decades, our cultural and scientific relationship with the Moon has been radically altered. Multiple robots landed on the Moon last year, and more are on the way. The Moon is a place and a destination – but this was not always the case.”
The Comet Panic of 1910, Revisited | Science History Institute
“Some farmers in Germany declined to plant crops that spring, reasoning that they would die before anything ripened. Creditors began defaulting on bank loans, deciding to live it up while they had time. Snake-oil salesmen peddled “comet pills” as a supposed antidote to celestial toxins. Bartenders promised similar protection: if you had enough scotch or whiskey in your bloodstream, they claimed, cyanogen couldn’t touch you. A broker in Los Angeles began selling “comet insurance,” offering $500 cash to the families of anyone killed by Halley’s passage.”
Ms. Hisako Koyama: From Amateur Astronomer to Long-Term Solar Observer | Space Weather
“The path to science for a girl of any nationality born in the early twentieth century was formidable-to-nonexistent. Yet paths were forged by a few. We present the little-known story of one of Japan's premier solar observers and her contribution to the world's understanding of sunspots and space weather cycles.”
The High-Flying, Death-Defying Discovery of Helium | Science History Institute
Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen ( February 1824- December 1907), also know as Jules Janssen, was a French astronomer “who will always rank as one of the most eminent scientific men of his country” ( click on PDF sign at the top of the name link to read in full).