Mercury Magazine Contents
Vol. 24 No. 3
May/June 1995

Page	Article
6	Clusters, Lensing, and the Future of the Universe, by Virginia Trimble and George Musser Be thankful the universe is clumpy. Otherwise we'd all be single atoms in eternal solitude. But how did the universe get that way when it used to be as smooth as White Rush ice cream? Recent discoveries only deepen the mystery.
10	Special Report: American Minorities in Astronomy       There are about 15 African-American professional astronomers in the United States. Not 15 percent, fifteen. Latinos and Native Americans are similarly underrepresented. Those who make it not only must run the usual gauntlet of school, college, graduate school, and the job market; they must jump extra hurdles that can include poverty, discrimination, isolation, expectations of failure, and the burden of "representing" their ethnic group to their profession and their profession to their ethnic group. Over the past two decades, astronomers have worked to improve women's representation in their profession. What can we do to support American minority groups? Mercury has asked astronomers, educators, and students from various perspectives to comment.
	Overviews Jill S. Price and Abigail A. Hafer - Some Gains, a Long Way to Go Kristine M. Larsen - Participation in Science by Minorities Mercedes T. Richards - Underrepresented Groups in Astronomy Experiences Dian B. Curran - No Matter What Others Think, You Can Reach the Stars Darryl Stanford - From "Guerrilla Astronomer" to Department Chair Turja Banks - Astronomy In My Life Doug Ingram - The Trailblazers Robert L. Ashford - What Are Those Dots on the Sun, Mister? Kristine M. Larsen - An Interview With Ronald L. Mallett Outreach Programs George R. Carruthers - Outreach Programs for African-American Students in Washington, D.C. Kenneth MacKay - MESA: Pre-college Support for Minority Students Kristine M. Larsen - Programs for American Minority Students in Science White Attitudes Geoffrey C. Clayton - Astronomy in the '90s: Angry, White, and Male? Education Patricia A. Gutierrez - Empowering Students with Science Joseph D. Ciparick - The Role of Culture in Science Education Paul H. Knappenberger Jr. - Addressing Diversity in Planetarium Audiences
	Departments
2	Editorial, by George Musser
4	Letters to the Editor
5	Society News
21	Sky Calendars
38	World Beat: Muslim Moon-Sightings, by Imad A. Ahmad and S. Khalid Shaukat Astronomy retains a vital role in Islam, as holidays start and end depending on the phase of the Moon. If you don't see the crescent, you can't eat the feast or open the presents.
39	Echoes of the Past, by Katherine Bracher In 1795, if you needed to know the time of sunrise or the next eclipse, you could look it up in Banneker's Almanac, for the Year 1795: Being the Third after Leap Year. It was the work of Benjamin Banneker, the first African-American astronomer.
40	Bruce Medalist Profile: Carl V.L. Charlier, by Joseph S. Tenn Carl Charlier counted stars and nebulae for a living. Bland though it might sound, his statistical analysis showed that the universe could consist of gargantuan superclusters -- an idea decades ahead of its time.
42	Book Review, by Mart de Groot Cosmic Enigmas by Joseph Silk. At Home in the Universe by John Archibald Wheeler.
43	Last Page, by Bob Thaves "Frank & Ernest"

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