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History and Developments in Astronomy

History and Developments in Astronomy is a research topic within Astronomy and Astrophysics. Science Explorer counts 22k research works in it since 1950. 10.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers the historical development and impact of astronomy, with a focus on radio astronomy, transits of Venus, high-resolution imaging, spectroscopy, solar observations, early astronomical instruments, scientific expeditions, astronomical discoveries, cultural impact, and historical figures in the field. It provides insights into the evolution of astronomical techniques and their influence on society and scientific progress.

  • Radio Astronomy
  • Transits of Venus
  • High-Resolution Imaging
  • Spectroscopy
  • Solar Observations
  • Early Astronomical Instruments
  • Scientific Expeditions
  • Astronomical Discoveries
  • Cultural Impact
  • Historical Figures
Research works
22k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
0%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
41% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
History and Developments in Astronomy

Which countries lead History and Developments in Astronomy research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (683 and 204 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 683 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 204 works
  3. 3 France 162 works
  4. 4 Italy 154 works
  5. 5 Germany 134 works
  6. 6 Australia 94 works
  7. 7 Russia 72 works
  8. 8 Canada 62 works
  9. 9 Brazil 60 works
  10. 10 China 58 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 40.5%United Kingdom: 12.1%France: 9.6%Italy: 9.2%6 others listed: 28.5%41%largest
United States683 · 40.5%United Kingdom204 · 12.1%France162 · 9.6%Italy154 · 9.2%6 others listed480 · 28.5%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead History and Developments in Astronomy research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most History and Developments in Astronomy research, followed by Ca' Foscari University of Venice and Russian Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 59 works
  2. 2 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 40 works
  3. 3 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 25 works
  4. 4 Harvard UniversityUnited States 21 works
  5. 5 Slovak Academy of SciencesSlovakia 16 works
  6. 6 National Institute for AstrophysicsItaly 16 works
  7. 7 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 15 works
  8. 8 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research OrganisationAustralia 15 works
  9. 9 Max Planck SocietyGermany 14 works
  10. 10 National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationUnited States 13 works

Who are the leading researchers in History and Developments in Astronomy?

The most-cited researchers publishing on History and Developments in Astronomy include Graeme J. Hankey, Narayanaswamy Venketasubramanian and P. Jackson.

  1. 1 Graeme J. Hankey Australia 316k citations
  2. 2 Narayanaswamy Venketasubramanian Singapore 252k citations
  3. 3 P. Jackson France 230k citations
  4. 4 David John Hunter Australia 211k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in History and Developments in Astronomy?

The most cited paper in History and Developments in Astronomy is "Inward Bound—The Search for Supermassive Black Holes in Galactic Nuclei" (John Kormendy, Douglas O. Richstone, 1995), with 2,567 citations. Next come "Allen's Astrophysical Quantities" (2,311) and "The Cosmological Constant" (1,557).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Inward Bound—The Search for Supermassive Black Holes in Galactic Nuclei John Kormendy, Douglas O. Richstone · Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics Sep 1995 2,567
2 Allen's Astrophysical Quantities Arthur N. Cox, Catherine A. Pilachowski · Physics Today Oct 2000 2,311
3 The Cosmological Constant Sean Michael Carroll, William H. Press, Edwin L. Turner · Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics Sep 1992 1,557
4 A 3% SOLUTION: DETERMINATION OF THE HUBBLE CONSTANT WITH THEHUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPEAND WIDE FIELD CAMERA 3 Adam G. Riess, Lucas M. Macri, Stefano Casertano et al. · The Astrophysical Journal Open access 10 Mar 2011 1,495
5 Infrared Photons and Gravitons Steven Weinberg · Physical Review 25 Oct 1965 1,387
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is History and Developments in Astronomy research done?

The largest centres of History and Developments in Astronomy research in 2022-now are Paris (France), London (United Kingdom), Venice (Italy) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Venice.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 ParisFrance 77 works
  2. 2 LondonUnited Kingdom 46 works
  3. 3 VeniceItaly 40 works
  4. 4 MoscowRussia 32 works
  5. 5 CambridgeUnited States 28 works
  6. 6 SydneyAustralia 25 works
  7. 7 Washington D.C.United States 24 works
  8. 8 TucsonUnited States 22 works
  9. 9 BeijingChina 22 works
  10. 10 RomeItaly 21 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. VeniceIT · 39.8 works56×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in History and Developments in Astronomy than the world average.

See History and Developments in Astronomy on the map

Where is the best place to study History and Developments in Astronomy?

Among universities, judged by research, California Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge and University of Arizona score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 13.94%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of ArizonaCalifornia Institute…University of Cambri…Ca' Foscari Universi…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1California Institute of TechnologyUnited States 71.217.6%16.2×12 +102.2%
2University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 64.517.0%6.5×15 -27.0%
3University of ArizonaUnited States 64.222.7%8.4×11 +28.5%
4Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 64.17.6%85.0×40 +760.2%
5Université Paris Sciences et LettresFrance 63.916.6%16.4×12 +121.7%
6Cardiff UniversityUnited Kingdom 56.716.0%12.7×11 +197.6%
7Harvard UniversityUnited States 55.56.6%3.3×21 +66.6%
8University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 53.421.9%3.8×10 -6.8%
9Macquarie UniversityAustralia 48.76.8%13.6×10 +85.6%
10Australian National UniversityAustralia 48.56.6%9.8×10 +347.0%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in History and Developments in Astronomy, country by country

Is History and Developments in Astronomy research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 0% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2014.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is History and Developments in Astronomy as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0090% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%History and Developments in Astronomy0.0088% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of History and Developments in Astronomy over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%History and Developments in Astronomy10.6% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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