Alexander A. GURSHTEIN was born in Moscow, Russia and graduated from the Moscow University for Geodesy and Cartography with a major in astrometry and theoretical geodesy. His career dawned as an ob...lihat lebih banyakAlexander A. GURSHTEIN was born in Moscow, Russia and graduated from the Moscow University for Geodesy and Cartography with a major in astrometry and theoretical geodesy. His career dawned as an observer in the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute (Moscow University), where he got the degree of Candidate of Science (Physics & Mathematics). For years he worked for the space industry: Korolev's Design Bureau, hailed for the creation of Sputnik and manned spaceships, and the Institute for Space Research (Academy of Sciences).
His extended book Eternal Enigmas of the Heaven appeared in 1973; two editions followed with a circulation of about half a million and a translation into Spanish. He has authored books, hundreds of research papers, reviews and 5 certificates of inventions. He got a Ph.D. (Doctor of Science in Physics & Mathematics) from the Main Astronomical Observatory of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg (Pulkovo) and moved to the Vavilov Institute for History of Science & Technology (Moscow). His contributions on history of astronomy and the Zodiac have appeared in Russian, English, Chinese, German, Italian, and Polish.
A scientific activist, he served as the Editor-in-Chief for the annual on History of Astronomy and Space, Deputy Editor-in-Chief for the Russian Academys Nature, the Head of the Board for Astronomical Education (Ministry of Education), and as the Vice Director for the Institute for History of Science & Technology (Academy of Sciences). In 1995, he departed for the US to teach in Colorado. A member of several scientific unions, he was honoured as the President for the Commission on History of Astronomy (International Astronomical Union). In this capacity, he proposed to declare 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy, the initiative being promoted by the IAU, UNESCO, and the UN.lihat lebih sedikit