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It is most appropriate that Vistas in Astronomy should offer its congratulations to Pergamon Press on its 40th birthday, as the two have been associated since the Press’ earliest years. At the time the idea of a celebratory volume of papers in honour of Professor F. J. M. Stratton was first discussed, Pergamon was indeed only the traditional acorn from which great oaks are said to grow. Back in 1952, Bob Maxwell and his handful of collaborators were based in the few rooms of a London mews cottage. That was before the move to the more elegant surroundings of Fitzroy Square, and long before the migration to Oxford. Let me sketch briefly the story of those early days, and how that single book became the first of 30 volumes of Vistas in Astronomy.

F. J. M. Stratton was the distinguished astronomer who, for nearly 20 years, directed the famous Solar Physics Observatory at Cambridge, carrying out notable researches. Perhaps even more important, he was a great encourager, inspiring all who came in contact with him. He also worked tirelessly as General Secretary of the International Astronomical Union during its formative years. So it was no surprise that someone should suggest a celebratory volume for his 75th birthday.

Why, though, should it have happened to be my father, the late Arthur Beer, who took up this task - and how did Pergamon Press come to be involved? For an answer to the first question we must go back another 20 years, to 1934. Nazism was on the upsurge and, in common with many others, Arthur Beer was under pressure to leave Germany - where true scientific work had become, for him, impossible.

So, like many another emigre, he found himself a refugee in England: almost penniless, but not without good friends. It was, however, vital that he should find a sponsor and a job. In Stratton my father found both.

Within a few months of landing, he had been given a position at the Cambridge Observatory - temporary, but firm enough to enable him to draw breath, work again in his own science, and seek a permanent post.

So there was a personal debt of gratitude to repay; a debt that was compounded when, after a scientific but non-astronomical war, my father was for a second time offered a job by Stratton - this time, a permanent position at the Cambridge Observatory he regarded so highly. Stratton retired the following year, and not long afterwards the idea of the Stratton volume came into my father’s mind.

Gathering in and editing contributions from around the world was one thing, but there was also the problem of finding a publisher willing to take a not-inconsiderable risk: for this work, however valuable to science, was never going to be a best-seller. It so happened that Arthur Beer had been in contact with another emigre, Dr Paul Rosbaud, who was involved with publishing, and it was to him that he now turned for advice. Rosbaud was in fact scientific adviser to Bob Maxwell, and he brought publisher and editor together. There was an immediate rapport between the two. Apart from their birthplace, they had one thing in common: a strong belief in the importance of communications. My father had spent years as a writer and editpr: he was as keen to popularise his science as to practise it.

It was quickly agreed that the Stratton volume -for which my father coined the name Vistas in Astronomy - was to be published by ,the young Pergamon Press. Then it was back to the long task of assembling the volume. Now usually, when a compiler writes around to the world’s more distinguished practitioners in any field, he expects perhaps one in five to promise him an article, and even fewer to deliver. No lack of goodwill is involved; experts in any field are busy people and do not easily find the time to write, as was now demanded, a substantial contribution to their subject - a review of a whole area, coupled with a look ahead - the ‘vista’ into the future. But now something rather remakable began to happen.

Author after author replied, accepting the challenge. The work grew and grew, until finally no less than 215 authors of 26 nationalities produced between them 192 papers. Many were in

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languages other than English, and were duly translated. All had to be edited, set in type and proof-read. It was a massive labour extending over some three years, and far exceeding the original plan for a single modest volume. the editor did not falter; but neither did the publisher. If two volumes are necessary, as he put it, two volumes we shall have.

And so it was: Vistas in Astronomy, Volume 1, 776 pages; and Volume 2, 994 pages bringing the total for the work to 1770 pages. An international effort, of which one might fairly say, in Sir Arthur Eddington’s words, “My subject disperses the galaxies, but it unites the earth”.

The story does not, of course, end at this point, 30 years ago. It must - however briefly - be said that those two volumes were very well received in astronomical circles, not for their bulk but for the high quality of so many of the contributions. It was also felt by many that their broad- ranging, synoptic approach filled something of a gap in the astronomical literature - geared, like most scientific periodical publishing, mainly to the rapid dissemination of research findings. There seemed a continuing need for some kind of publication, less frequent but untrammelled by tight constraints of space, which would allow authors to take the broader view, as well as to explore some of the byways of the science.

Thus there began a fresh collaboration between Editor and Press, starting with Volume 3 - published in 1960 - and continuing with further volumes at roughly yearly intervals up to Volume 18. This was another massive undertaking, which celebrated the fourth centenary of Kepler’s birth. At this point the decision was taken to move to publication in journal form, with four parts per year - a format that could offer authors substantially speedier publication.

Arthur Beer remained senior editor of Vistas in Astronomy until his death in 1980, but the journal has continued since then with - we would like to think - the same openness of approach that always characterized its founder. The world of astronomy has grown enormously since pre- war days. In 1935 there were only a few hundred members of the International Astronomical Union, which included most of the active researchers. By 1948, when it held its triennial meeting in Rome, there were more than 2000 members; but today, the figure is over 6000. Astronomical publishing has had to keep pace, and it is our hope that in some small measure Vistas has done that over the past 35 years.

P.B.