57
be devised and effective working attitudes promoted. All this will be dealt
with in Chaps. 8, 12, and 15. Here, I emphasize two very specific strategic
manoeuvres that served us well.
One of our first strategies was to hoist and proudly wave the banner of
astrophysics, presenting it as ‘modern astronomy’, something new and attractive, and hitherto unknown in Spain. In astrophysics the stars were more than
mere points of light having mass, as in the ‘old’ classical astronomy. In astrophysics they had huge dimensions, were bodies of shining matter with measurable chemical and physical properties, filled with energy, astounding, and
in the process of evolving. We set about popularizing and promoting astrophysics with this discourse in mind. Our aim was to raise astrophysics in
opposition to astronomy, although it must be admitted that the former is
conceptually part of the latter. But the ruse worked, and nowadays, with
everything in its proper place we naturally use either term indiscriminately.
As a demonstration of this, in 1975 we convened a meeting (‘First National
Assembly of Astronomy and Astrophysics) in the Canaries to draw a conscious distinction between astronomers and astrophysicists. In contrast, in
2018 we held a meeting in Salamanca under the title ‘XIII Scientific Meeting
of the Spanish Astronomical Society’ (SEA). If we go to the SEA website, we
find: ‘The Spanish Astronomical Society brings together more than 800 professional astrophysicists, comprising more than 600 PhDs in Astrophysics and
200 junior members.’ It is now no longer necessary to accentuate astrophysics
as such.
The posters for the two meetings clearly demonstrate a drastic evolution.
The 1975 poster, which, through lack of resources, I designed myself, is simple and minimalist. Contrast this with the professionally produced complex
composition for the 2018 poster, with its reproduction of the magnificent
Salamancan fresco of the Copernican sky. Also noteworthy is the number of
patrons of the Salamanca meeting.
Today it is a mark of prestige to call oneself an astrophysicist, but in my
case, as the first person to claim on his identity card the profession of ‘astrophysicist’, it was an uphill struggle to get it recognized as a profession.
Astrophysics has now become accepted; news items often appear on television
and in other media concerning the ‘mysteries of space and the cosmos’. There
are also many astrophysicists in our universities.
A further strategic decision, let me state it bluntly and without embarrassment, was for me to obtain a chair in astrophysics rather than astronomy. At
the time you either had a professorship or you counted for nothing, and
nobody would listen to you. I was able to verify this immediately in 1972
when, now one of the higher caste, I was called to a meeting at the ministry
7 Astrophysics Versus Astronomy (1961–1972)
be devised and effective working attitudes promoted. All this will be dealt
with in Chaps. 8, 12, and 15. Here, I emphasize two very specific strategic
manoeuvres that served us well.
One of our first strategies was to hoist and proudly wave the banner of
astrophysics, presenting it as ‘modern astronomy’, something new and attractive, and hitherto unknown in Spain. In astrophysics the stars were more than
mere points of light having mass, as in the ‘old’ classical astronomy. In astrophysics they had huge dimensions, were bodies of shining matter with measurable chemical and physical properties, filled with energy, astounding, and
in the process of evolving. We set about popularizing and promoting astrophysics with this discourse in mind. Our aim was to raise astrophysics in
opposition to astronomy, although it must be admitted that the former is
conceptually part of the latter. But the ruse worked, and nowadays, with
everything in its proper place we naturally use either term indiscriminately.
As a demonstration of this, in 1975 we convened a meeting (‘First National
Assembly of Astronomy and Astrophysics) in the Canaries to draw a conscious distinction between astronomers and astrophysicists. In contrast, in
2018 we held a meeting in Salamanca under the title ‘XIII Scientific Meeting
of the Spanish Astronomical Society’ (SEA). If we go to the SEA website, we
find: ‘The Spanish Astronomical Society brings together more than 800 professional astrophysicists, comprising more than 600 PhDs in Astrophysics and
200 junior members.’ It is now no longer necessary to accentuate astrophysics
as such.
The posters for the two meetings clearly demonstrate a drastic evolution.
The 1975 poster, which, through lack of resources, I designed myself, is simple and minimalist. Contrast this with the professionally produced complex
composition for the 2018 poster, with its reproduction of the magnificent
Salamancan fresco of the Copernican sky. Also noteworthy is the number of
patrons of the Salamanca meeting.
Today it is a mark of prestige to call oneself an astrophysicist, but in my
case, as the first person to claim on his identity card the profession of ‘astrophysicist’, it was an uphill struggle to get it recognized as a profession.
Astrophysics has now become accepted; news items often appear on television
and in other media concerning the ‘mysteries of space and the cosmos’. There
are also many astrophysicists in our universities.
A further strategic decision, let me state it bluntly and without embarrassment, was for me to obtain a chair in astrophysics rather than astronomy. At
the time you either had a professorship or you counted for nothing, and
nobody would listen to you. I was able to verify this immediately in 1972
when, now one of the higher caste, I was called to a meeting at the ministry
7 Astrophysics Versus Astronomy (1961–1972)