Published by Acta Historica Astronomiae, Vol. 64. Akademische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2018, ISSN 1422-8521.
521 + [9] pp., 41 b/w and 83 color Figs., Tables.
Softcover, ISBN 978-3-944913-56-8
Euro 39.00
File jad24_2.pdf contains this review in pdf format.
This book was published in honor and commemoration of the German astronomer Hilmar W. Duerbeck (1948-2012). Apart from some emails exchanged in 2010 with Hilmar concerning an article written by the reviewer and published in Vol. 41 of the Acta Historica Astronomiae, the reviewer did not know him personally, although both shared the same field of interest, namely the history of astronomy. But contrary to the reviewer, who focused mainly on 18th century mathematical astronomy, Hilmar's fields of activity were much broader. The reviewer did not even notice the sorrowful message about Hilmar's passing away in 2012. When having purchased a copy of George Ellery Hale's classic "Study of Stellar Evolution" of 1909 from a Berlin antiquarian book store in November 2013, the reviewer was wondering about the handwritten signature of the previous owner: it was Hilmar Duerbeck's copy. Only then the reviewer realized that an outstanding colleague was no longer among us. Therefore it was all the more important for the reviewer to learn more about Hilmar's life and impressive work at least in retrospect from this memorial book.
The book is very well organized in respect to both content and language. The stand-alone contributions are either written in German or in English, whereas the articles concerning Hilmar's life and work are given in German and in English translation, so that all readers - and especially all international colleagues - who have been in touch with Hilmar, can read this book to learn more about this outstanding person and his spouse, the German astronomer Waltraut Seitter (1930-2007).
The book contains four chapters: 1. Biography (pp. 17-84), 2. Scientific work and institutional environment (pp. 85-202), 3. Reminiscences (pp. 203-280), and 4. Papers on Hilmar Duerbeck's fields of work (pp. 281-510). All articles of Chapter 1 were written by the editors, who were close friends and co-workers of Hilmar. Chapter 2 contains four sections: 1. The Observatory Hoher List (pp. 85-106), 2. The Münster Astronomical Institute (pp. 107-140), 3. Brussels and Chile (pp. 141-150), and 4. History of astronomy (pp. 151-202). They cover Hilmar's different places and fields of activity, with emphasis on his research in the history of astronomy. In Chapter 3 some of Hilmar's friends and colleagues, including the editors, reflect about their experiences with Hilmar and his partner in life from their personal points of view. Chapter 4 gathers 14 papers on topics that are closely related to those in which Hilmar was deeply engaged. All being experts in their fields, the authors of these papers highlight interesting aspects and subjects when working in the history of astronomy, or in topics in which Hilmar was involved or that were left unfinished.
This book represents an impressive and ideal example of how sources in the history of astronomy, of which Hilmar Duerbeck and his heritage is now a part, should be provided. Material concerning the life and work of an eminent historian of astronomy were processed and presented by experts in the field when it was still available in its complete and untouched form. These requirements and this approach yield reliable historical information and make this book a valuable source of knowledge. Moreover, since Chapter 4 comprises 14 articles and some 230 pages, this chapter alone should be of considerable interest to the history of science community and would have filled a single volume within the sub-series Beiträge zur Astronomiegeschichte (Contributions to the history of astronomy) of the Acta Historica Astronomiae.
Let us also address some critical points. First of all, there is the missing title structure of the individual chapters, sections and subsections in the text body (at least in the header), which thus does not reflect the numbered titles of the contents structure. Consequently, the reader needs to consult the list of contents much more frequently when scanning through the text body. Next, although there is an index to the list of Hilmar Duerbeck's publications and even an overview table itemizing statistics of his publications in terms of publication categories, a similar list is missing that would disclose his works in terms of research topics within the history of astronomy. The added subject index is not very helpful in this respect. In addition, it is not clear why the list of Duerbeck's publications contains only his works on history of astronomy. This may certainly be the major body of his publications, but a complete list of all of his publications would have rounded out his biography in a perfect way. Finally, the readership acquainted with memorial books may have expected a frontispiece or title page portrait of Hilmar Duerbeck (despite some pictures are spread throughout the text body).
These are, however, rather minor faults which do not reduce the historical value and editorial quality of the book, which may be highly recommended to the scientific community associated with history of astronomy in any kind. The reviewer learned much about the biography and scientific activity of Hilmar Duerbeck from this book, and deeply regrets in retrospect not having had the opportunity of getting personally acquainted with this outstanding character.