Alexander Aronovich Gurshtein (, ''Aleksandr Aronovich Gurshteyn''; February 21, 1937 – April 3, 2020) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and historian of science.

Early life

Gurshtein was born Jewish in Moscow (former USSR) on February 21, 1937. His father, Aron Sheftelevich Gurshtein, was a literary critic and writer, while his mother, Yelena Vasilievna Resnikova, was a journalist and editor at a Moskovan radio station.DeVorkin, D. (2020). Alexander Gurshtein (1937–2020). ''Bulletin of the AAS'', ''52''(2). https://doi.org/10.3847/25c2cfeb.a83e494f In 1941, when Gurshtein was four years old, his father was killed in the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

during the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...

. Following his father's death, he was raised by his mother and grandmother. When Alexander was thirteen, he began visiting the Moscow Planetarium, which brought on his pursuit of astronomy.''International astronomical union''. (n.d.). International Astronomical Union , IAU. https://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/3899/

Education and career

Gurshtein attended Moscow State Institute of Geodesy and Cartography, and graduated with a degree in

astrometry Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other Astronomical object, celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, th ...

in 1959. Following his graduation, he worked at the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

and in the Soviet Space program during the

Space Race The Space Race (, ) was a 20th-century competition between the Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between t ...

of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. Gurshtein earned his

Candidate of Science A Candidate of Sciences is a PhD-equivalent academic research degree in all the post-Soviet countries with the exception of Ukraine, and until the 1990s it was also awarded in Central and Eastern European countries. It is officially classified ...

from

Sternberg State Astronomical Institute Sternberg may refer to: Places ;Austria *Burgruine Sternberg, a castle ruin in Carinthia ;Czech Republic *Šternberk (), a town with an eponymous castle and seat of the mediæval County of Sternberg *Český Šternberk (), a market town ** Český ...

, Moscow in 1966 and a Doctor of Science degree in Physics & Mathematics from Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 1980. Gurshtein was active as an astronomer in the space program and held a number of offices in professional organizations, including Head of Council for Astronomical Education and Vice Director of the Institute for History of Science & Technology, both for the

Russian Ministry of Education Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. As a historian of science, he served as editor-in-chief of the ''Annual on History of Science'', published by the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief for the academic monthly, ''Nature'', published by the Russian Academy of Sciences. He was also the author of several books and articles on

planetology Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their ...

, holder of five patents, and contributor to many international forums. In 1995, he took a leave of absence from the Russian Academy and accepted a position as Visiting Professor of Astronomy & History of Science at

Mesa State College Colorado Mesa University (CMU or Mesa) is a public university in Grand Junction, Colorado, United States. Originally established in 1925 as Grand Junction Junior College, the school was renamed to Mesa College in 1940. The college began offerin ...

Grand Junction, Colorado Grand Junction is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and largest city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction's population was 65,560 at the 2020 United St ...

. In later years he developed a concept of history of

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

s and the

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

which was published in ''

American Scientist ''American Scientist'' (informally abbreviated ''AmSci'') is an American bimonthly science and technology magazine published since 1913 by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society. In the beginning of 2000s the headquarters was moved to ...

'', ''

Sky & Telescope ''Sky & Telescope'' (''S&T'') is a monthly magazine covering all aspects of amateur and professional astronomy, including what to see in the sky tonight and new findings in astronomy. Other topics covered include: *observing guides for planets, ...

'', and other professional journals.

References

External links

"Did the pre-Indo-Europeans influence the formation of the Western Zodiac?" (abstract)
* Гурштейн А.А. Минувшие цивилизации в зеркале Зодиака // Природа. 1991. No. 10. С. 57–71. * ''Гурштейн А.А.'' Реконструкция происхождения зодиакальных созвездий // На рубежах познания Вселенной (Историко-астрономическиеисследования). Вып. 23. М., 1992. С. 19–63; * ''Gurshtein A.A.'' //On the Origin of the Zodiacal Constellations // Vistas in Astronomy. 1993. V. 36. P. 171–190. * Gurshtein A.A. The Zodiac and the Roots of European Civilization. Стара Загора, сентябрь 1993 г.5. Доклад на Международной конференции по археоастрономии Оксфорд-4: * ''Гурштейн А.А.'' Археоастрономическое досье: когда родился Зодиак?, ж. "Земля и Вселенная" No. 5,2011. с.48-61. Gurshtein, A.A., Archaeoastronomical Dossier: When Zodiac was born? ''Zemlya I Vselennaya'' No. 5, 2011. s.48-61 * ''Гурштейн, А. А.'' Московский астроном на заре космического века : автобиогр. заметки / А. А. Гурштейн. - М.: НЦССХ им. А. Н. Бакулева РАМН, 2012. - 675 с.

* ''H.J.Smith, A.A.Gurshtein, W.Mendell'', International Manned Lunar Base: Beginning the 21st century in Space, Science & Global Security, vol. 2, pp. 209–233, 1991 * ''Gurshtein, A.A.'', Did the Pre-Indo-Europeans Influence the Formation of the Western Zodiac? Journal of Indo-European Studies. Volume 33, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 200

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurshtein, Alexander A. Russian astronomers Historians of astronomy 1937 births 2020 deaths Soviet astronomers Russian Jews