Articles by Simon Mitton

CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND—Four months after their $500 million satellite failed to settle into its target orbit, European space scientists are hoping to salvage as much as half of the data that they expected to receive from the Hipparcos mission. Their optimism is based on weeks of hard work modifying the hardware and software that control the astronomical observatory to mitigate the scientific impact of the satellite’s failure to reach its proper orbit. Ironically, the reduced flow of

TENERIFE, SPAIN—Europe's astronomical community, meeting in the Canary Islands last month for its annual convention, has taken steps to establish the first Pan-European astronomical society. In addition to increasing the astronomical community's power by speaking with one coherent voice, one of the major goals of the new European Astronomical Society will be to enable closer collaboration between astronomers in the East and West portions of the continent, and to increase support of the Eas

As an editor, I find that book buyers dislike conference volumes more than any other category of book, and yet the partnership of scientists and publishers persists in producing them. How are we to explain the fact that scientists can be both disdainful and enthusiastic about these ephemeral publications? What is it that drives the community to support proceedings volumes at all? Can we afford to do without them? Last August, I attended the Twentieth General Assembly of the International Astro

Scholarly and academic publishing is now in a state of unprecedented turmoil because of mergers and takeovers. Harper & Row is now linked with Collins (UK); D. Reidel in Europe has joined with Kluwer British publisher Longman has absorbed Addison-Wesley. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich fought off a raid by Robert Maxwell, but went into debt in the process and was forced to lay off staff. Such events are relatively new in the publishing world. Until World War II, science publishing was very much a

As a schoolboy in England in the 1950s and ‘60s, I was first introduced to reference publishing by Kaye and Loby’s Tables. Here you could find all the “right” answers to experimental demonstrations in physics and chemistry, such as the viscosity of various mineral oils and Young’s modulus for steel, which then seemed rather remote from everyday life. And we used four-figure logarithm tables all the time. What a gold mine they were for publishers: in public examin

Publishers and professional scientists enjoy a love-hate relationship over volumes of conference proceedings. Many researchers question whether science is well served by conference papers published as collections in journals or books. Reviewers frequently criticize proceedings books for their high prices and poor physical appearance, for a lack of rigorous editing, or for long publication delays. Some academic publishers must share this skepticism because they rarely produce books arising from m

Chicago Guide To Preparing Electronic Manuscripts: For Authors and Publishers. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1987. 156 pp. $25 HB. $9.95 PB Any scientist who is writing a book should be aware of this nifty guide on how to format a manuscript using a word processor or computer. The conventional publishing process requires a typesetting house to re-key all of the manuscript. Clearly, if the author's keystrokes can be captured in some way, there should be savings of time and cost. In pract

LONDON—A proposal to make the Value Added Tax (VAT) more uniform throughout the European Economic Community could significantly increase the prices worldwide of British scientific books and Journals. The EEC, which is considering a variety of reforms to boost its revenue and simplify its finances, has singled out the United Kingdom and Ireland because important areas of retail spending here—including books, food and children's clothing—are not subject to VAT. The European Com

Most established scientists based in universities have probably been approached by book publishers. Acquisitions editors are always searching for essential monographs, timely conference proceedings and outstanding textbooks. The quest for good authors is highly competitive. Most publishers now use subject specialists who are able to use their own judgment when they come across an interesting proposal. These editors visit campuses and attend conventions in order to drum up business. How should th