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Posted today on HASTRO-L:


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [HASTRO-L] Book Announcement
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 18:04:43 -0400
From: Andrew Butrica
Reply-To: History of Astronomy Discussion Group 
To: HASTRO-L@listserv.wvu.edu

I would like to announce that "The Navigators," my contract history
of NASA's deep-space navigation over the past half century, is now in
print and available from Amazon.

The book will be of great interest to list members. Navigation, in
many ways, is an "applied" form of astronomy, or at least celestial
mechanics. However, since an IAU decision taken in the 1970s, the
deep-space navigators of JPL have been in charge of providing the
ephemerides, constants, etc. in use by US and other almanac offices.
In a sense, the navigators became astronomers. I show how, initially,
navigators borrowed and adapted astronomical practices and methods.
They succeeded largely by reproducing a miniature version of the
celestial mechanics community at JPL, often by hiring graduates of
Yale University. Needless, to say, the Naval Observatory plays a big
role in the story.

I focus on two broad themes. One is the beginnings and evolution of
space navigation in response to the security crisis starting with
World War II and running to the present century. The other
overarching theme is the relationship between navigation and science,
especially astronomy. The navigators, I argue, are representative of
the application-oriented science that the security crisis fostered.
The book makes additional points about modeling nature, the role of
technology (computers, instruments), and the reasons for navigation's
increasing accuracy.

The book will be of interest to historians of science, technology,
astronomy, space exploration, computing, and public policy.

It is a print-on-demand book at NASA's request (mainly to expedite
publication). I undertook all the steps necessary to turn my
manuscript into a book, including cover design, proofreading, and
layout. Amazon will have it available in 5-7 business days; the
CreateSpace eStore has it now.

Andrew J. Butrica, Ph.D.
Research Historian

Sent from my Xylo Phone


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