history of science and open access journals

This was originally for the History section after the fine talk by Ms Kelleghan at the recent SDAS meeting but it has wider implications.

There is a very weird puzzle I have been involved in for years called the Mayday Mystery which has all sorts of references to religion science history economics music and all sorts of material that you just cant get on the web.

The short version is that a US newspaper the Arizona Wildcat (you may remember under their stadium the largest lenses in the world are ground) had a full page advertisement every Mayday since the 1970s. They contain all sorts of references to astronomy physics economics etc.

In December another ad was posted and in it was a reference to the RAS journal. Even online the RAS website and springer link only have copies since 1995. I have the online access of an academic researcher and still couldnt find the one referred to in the ad.

Anyway, some guy posts in a link to the RAS article and not alone that but to several thousand FREE open access journals!

So I took a browse.

anyway here is the paper referred to (I think gravational lensing was mentioned in the ad)
adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1964MNRAS.128..295R

That's from 1964! Even the RAS don't have it online!


But i was particularly interested in the journals:
www.doaj.org/

and in the text books on this site
www.adsabs.harvard.edu/

for example:
Handbook of Space Astronomy and Astrophysics, by Martin V. Zombeck
(1990, Cambridge University Press).
# De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium [On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres], by Nicolaus Copernicus
(1543).

# Astronomiae Instauratae Mechanica [Instruments for the Restoration of Astronomy)], by Tycho Brahe
(1602).

under "scanned books"


and the "historical literature"
articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/iart...001&type=SCREEN_THMB

from the Annals of Dunsink

And not only there but hundreds of historical observatories Leiden Tokyo Yerkes - you name it. I mean take a look at the observatory of Lucien Libert in Le Harve a member of the BAA and his picture of the 1908 Partial solar eclipse.

Great stuff! and constantly growing!
a bit like the Universe