Transactions of the International Astronomical Union

The changing character of the IAU General Assemblies becomes most clear from a comparison of the agenda of the Brighton meeting with that of one of the earlier meetings. The fourth General Assembly (Cambridge Mass. , 1932) had about 240 participants, registered guests included, the Brighton meeting had about 2300 people attending. The Cambridge meeting lasted 5, working days, of which, however, three half days were exclusively devoted to excursions, leaving four real meeting days. At that time the nearly 30 commissions had each only one meeting, during part of a morning or afternoon; some commissions did not meet at all. There was one public lecture, by Sir Arthur Eddington, on 'The Expanding Universe'. Most of the small European countries were represented by two or three delegates only, but the delegations of France and Great Britain were composed of 20 and 18 scientists respectively; at that time there were only two delegates from Germany. After the Brighton General Assembly, with about 200 commission meetings - one commission met eleven times! - six Joint Discussions, four Invited Discourses, a Special Meeting and hardly time for excursions, there were a few complaints about too many overlapping meetings.

Proceedings of the Fourteenth General Assembly, Brighton, 1970

Contenu
1.- Report of the Executive Committee 196769.- 2.- Report of the Inaugural Ceremony, 18 August 1970.- Address by the Mayor of Brighton.- Address by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex.- Address by the President of the Royal Society.- Address by the Chairman of the National Organizing Committee.- Address by her Excellency, H.M. Secretary of State for Education and Science.- Address by the President of the IAU.- Report of the General Assembly (with Resolutions included).- Agenda.- First Session, 18 August 1970.- List of National Representation.- Members of the Finance Committee.- Final Session, 27 August 1970.- Report of the Finance Committee.- Special Nominating Committee.- Résolutions adoptées par I'Assemblée Générale.- 1. Émulsions photographiques.- 2. Échanges d'Équipement.- 3. l'Année Copernic.- 4. l'Abaissement du prix des publications de l'UAI.- 5. Sous-Commission de la Physique des Étoiles Instables.- 6. Le Temps Universel.- 7. Groupe de Travail Permanent sur les Données Numériques.- 8. La face de la Lune opposée à la Terre.- 9. I'lndexation supérieure des nouvelles Coordonnées Galactiques.- 10. l'Utilisation de l'espace.- 11. Les Emissions Radio.- 12. Les Résolutions adoptées.- Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly.- 1. Photographic Emulsions.- 2. Exchange of Equipment.- 3. The Year of Copernicus.- 4. Less expensive IAU publications.- 5. Sub-Commission on the Physics of Unstable Stars.- 6. Universal Time.- 7. Permanent Working Group on Numerical Data.- 8. The far side of the Moon.- 9. The superscript of the new Galactic Co-ordinates.- 10. The uses of space.- 11. Radio Transmission.- 12. Resolutions adopted.- New Members of the Union.- Appointment of the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of Commissions.- The place and date of the XVth General Assembly.- Election of the new Executive Committee.- Addresses by the retiring and the newly-elected Presidents.- Closing Ceremonies.- 3 Reports of Meetings of Commissions Comptes Rendus des Séances des Commissions.- 4 Ephemerides (Ephémérides).- 5 Documentation.- 5, 9, 38 and 46: Joint Meeting (Session Mixte).- 6 Astronomical Telegrams (Té1égrammes Astronomiques).- 7 Celestial Mechanics (Mécanique Célèste).- Report of Committee on Program and Data Banks of Commission 7.- 8 Positional Astronomy (Astronomie de Position).- 9 Instruments et Techniques (Instruments and Techniques).- Groupe de Travail sur les Récepteurs Photoélectriques d'Images.- 10 Solar Activity (Activité Solaire).- 12 Radiation and Structure of the Solar Atmosphere (Radiation et Structure de l'Atmosphère Solaire).- Working Group on Solar Eclipses.- Working Group on Sunspot Spectra.- Working Group on Central Line Intensities.- Working Group on the High Resolution Atlas of the Photospheric Spectrum.- 14 Fundamental Spectroscopic Data (Données Spectroscopiques Fondamentales).- 15 Physical Study of Comets (L'Étude Physique des Comètes).- 16 Physical Study of Planets and Satellites (Étude Physique des Planètes et Satellites).- 16, 17 and 40: Joint Meeting on 'Radio and Radar Studies of the Moon and Planets'.- Planetary Patrol. An International Effort, by W. A. Baum.- Activities of the Planetary Research Center of the Lowell Observatory, by W. A. Baum.- 17 The Moon (La Lune).- 19 Rotation de la Terre (Rotation of the Earth).- 20 Positions and Motions of Minor Planets, Comets and Satellites (Positions et Mouvements des Petites Planètes, des Comètes et des Satellites).- Working Group on Orbits and Ephemerides of Comets.- 21 Light of the Night-Sky (Luminescence du Ciel).- 22 Meteors and Meteorites (Météors et Météorites).- Report of the Committee on Meteorites.- 23 Carte du Ciel.- Historique de la Commission de la Carte du Ciel.- 24 Stellar Parallaxes and Proper Motions (Parallaxes Stellaires et Mouvements Propres).- 25 Stellar Photometry (Photométrie Stellaire).- 26 Double Stars (Étoiles Doubles).- 27 Variable Stars (Étoiles Variables).- 27, 24, 30, 33 and 37: Joint Session.- 28 Galaxies.- 29 Stellar Spectra (Spectres Stellaires).- Working Group on Line Intensity Standards.- 30 Radial Velocities (Vitesses Radiales).- 31 Time (L'Heure).- 31 and 4: Joint Meeting on Time Scales.- 33 Structure and Dynamics of the Galactic System (Structure et Dynamique du Système Galactique).- 34 Interstellar Matter and Planetary Nebulae (Matière Interstellaire et Nébuleuses Planétaires).- 35 Stellar Constitution (Constitution des Étoiles).- 36 Theory of Stellar Atmospheres (Théorie des Atmosphères Stellaires).- 37 Star Clusters and Associations (Amas Stellaires et Associations).- 38 Exchange of Astronomers (Échange des Astronomes).- 40 Radio Astronomy (Radio Astronomie).- 41 History of Astronomy (Histoire de L'Astronomie).- 42 Photometric Double Stars (Étoiles Doubles Photométriques).- Report of the Committee on Coordinated Programmes.- 43 Plasmas and Magnetohydrodynamics in Astrophysics (Plasmas et magnéto-hydrodynamique en Astrophysique).- 44 Astronomical Observations from Outside the Terrestrial Atmosphere (Observations Astronomiques au-dehors de l'Atmosphère Terrestre).- 45 Spectral Classifications and Multi-Band Colour Indices (Classifications Spectrales et Indices de Couleur a Plusieurs Bandes).- 46 Teaching of Astronomy (Enseignement de l'Astronomie).- 47 Cosmology (Cosmologie).- 48 High Energy Astrophysics (Astrophysique de Grande Énergie).- Working Group 1: Numerical Data for Astronomers and Astrophysicists (Groupe de Travail 1: Données Numériques pour les Astronomes et les Astrophysiciens).- 4 Astronomer's Handbook.- 1. I. Short History of the International Astronomical Union.- II. Administration and Finances of the Union.- III. The IAU and the other International Scientific Organizations.- IV. Services and Functions of the IAU.- V. Publications of the IAU.- VI. Symposia of the IAU.- 2. Style Book.- 3. Executive Committee 197073.- Statuts et règlement de l'UAI.- Statutes and By-Laws of the IAU.- Directives.- Working Rules.- Rules for Scientific Meetings.- Membership of Commissions.- Alphabetical List of Members.- List of countries adhering to the Union.