Taste of Astronomy Lacked International Flavor

摘要

In his short history of astronomy ("astronomy's greatest hits," news focus, 16rnJanuary, p. 326), T. Folger amply demonstrated Anglo-Saxon parochialism. Almost all majorrndiscoveries mentioned in his text are attributed to those from Britain or the United States.rnWhy didn't Folger name great scientists from other nations? He could have includedrna host of scientists from the francophone world alone, including Nicolas-ClaudernFabri de Peiresc (7) and Jean-Baptiste Cysat, who recorded, in 1610 and 1619,rnthe first observations of a binary star; Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier (2), whornby simple calculation predicted the location of the as-yet-unknown planetrnNeptune; Michel Major (5) and Didier Queloz, who discovered the first exo-rnplanets in 1995; and Rene Doyon, Christian Marois, and David Lafrenierern(4), who, in 2008, were the first to photograph exoplanets (three at a time).rnI'm sure scientists of other nationalities have made contributions thatrndeserved mention in the News Focus story as well.