The observation of the total eclipse of the sun of 1923 by Mexican astronomers was a scientific expedition like many of the time. It was also the conjunction of a wonderful natural spectacle and the performance of scientific observation staged by Mexican astronomers before three audiences: other scientists, government officials, and members of society. This case study shows how demonstrations are an integral part of the practice of science and can be useful for obtaining visibility and support.
AshE. H. (2010). Introduction: Expertise and the early modern state. Osiris, 25, 1-24.
2.
BalbuenaJ. (2010). La astronomía en México a través de la prensa (1919-1928). Un estudio de caso en la relación ciencia-sociedad [Astronomy in Mexico as seen through the press (1919-1928). A case study in the science-society relationship] (Unpublished BSc thesis). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
3.
La barata del eclipse [The eclipse sale]. (1923, September10). El Universal, p. 8.
4.
BarretoC. (2002). Corridos Zapatistas volumen 2 [Zapatista Ballads volume 2]. Mexico City, Mexico: Fonoteca del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia.
5.
BiagioliM. (1994). Galileo, courtier: The practice of science in the culture of absolutism. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
6.
BiroS. (2012). Astronomy by correspondence. A study of the appropriation of science by the Mexican public (1927-1947). Science Communication, 34, 803-819.
7.
BiroS.MateosG. (2011). Astronomía para todos: Joaquín Gallo en el Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (1915-1946) [Astronomy for all: Joaquin Gallo in the National Astronomical Observatory (1915 1946)]. In BartolucciJ. (Ed.), La saga de la ciencia mexicana. Estudios sociales de sus comunidades: Siglos XVIII al XX [The Saga of Mexican science. Social studies of the communities: From the eighteenth to the twentieth century] (pp. 189-212). Mexico City, Mexico: IISUE-Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
8.
Se contemplará el lunes próximo el fenómeno celeste más hermoso e impresionante que pueda verse [Next Monday the most beautiful and impressive celestial phenomenon will be observed]. (1923, September8). Excelsior, p. 1.
9.
CottamS.PearsonJ.OrchistonW.StephensonF. R. (2011). The total solar eclipses of 7 August 1869 and 29 July 1878 and the popularisation of astronomy in the USA as reflected in The New York Times. In OrchistonW.NakamuraT.StromR. (Eds.), Highlighting the history of astronomy in the Asia-Pacific region (pp. 339-375). New York, NY: Springer.
10.
CrelinstenJ. (2006). Einstein’s jury. The race to test relativity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
11.
Diario de la expedición en el campamento de Yerbanis [Diary of the expedition at Yerbanis camp]. (1923). Fondo Observatorio Astronómico Nacional, Estudios astronómicos (section), Eclipses (subsection).
12.
EmanuelliP. (1923). Deviazzione dei raggi stellari nel campo gravitazionale del Sole durante l’eclisse totale del 10 Settembre 1923 [Deflection of stellar rays by the gravitational field of the sun during the total eclipse of September 10, 1923] . Astronomische Nachrichten, 216, 13-15.
13.
FrostE. B. (1924). The expedition from the Yerkes observatory for observing the total solar eclipse of September 10, 1923, at Camp Wrigley. Popular Astronomy, 32, 205-217.
14.
FyfeE.LightmanB. (Eds.). (2007). Science in the marketplace. Nineteenth century sites and experiences. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
15.
GalloJ. (1919a). El eclipse total de sol del 10 de septiembre de 1923 [The total eclipse of the sun of September 10, 1923]. Memorias de la Sociedad Científica Antonio Alzate, 37, 189-192.
16.
GalloJ. (1919b). The total eclipse of September 10, 1923. Popular Astronomy, 27, 133-135.
17.
GalloJ. (1925). El eclipse total de sol del 10 de septiembre de 1923 [The total eclipse of the sun of September 10, 1923]. In Anuario del Observatorio Astronómico Nacional de Tacubaya (pp. 311-319). Mexico City, Mexico: la Dirección de Estudios Geográficos y Climatológicos.
18.
GalloJ. (1943). Un recuerdo del eclipse total de Sol del 10 de septiembre de 1923 (Booklet No. 332) [Memories of the total solar eclipse of September 10, 1923]. Mexico City, Mexico: Biblioteca del Instituto de Astronomía, UNAM.
19.
GoffmanE. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York, NY: Anchor Books.
20.
Hoy sera el eclipse del sol [Today is the solar eclipse]. (1923, September10). El Demócrata, p. 7.
21.
KorsmoF. (2004). Shaping up planet Earth. The International Geophysical Year (1957-1958) and communicating science through print and film media. Science Communication, 26, 162-187.
22.
LewensteinB. (1992). The meaning of “Public Understanding of Science” in the United States after World War II. Public Understanding of Science, 1, 45-68.
23.
LightmanB. (2007). Victorian popularizers of science. Designing nature for new audiences. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
24.
LivingstoneD. (2003). Putting science in its place. Geographies of scientific knowledge. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
25.
LópezE. (1923). Región de la República donde es más probable se observe el eclipse total de sol del 10 de septiembre de 1923 [The region of the republic where it is most probable to observe the total solar eclipse of September 10, 1923]. Memorias de la Sociedad Científica Antonio Alzate, 42, 25-32.
26.
LópezE. (1924). El eclipse total de sol del 10 de septiembre de 1923 [The total solar eclipse of September 10th, 1923]. Memorias de la Sociedad Científica Antonio Alzate, 43, 303-325.
MitchellS. A. (1935). Eclipses of the sun. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
29.
MoncadaO. (1999). La profesionalización de la Geografía mexicana durante el siglo XIX [Professionalization of Mexican geography in the nineteenth century]. Eria, 48, 63-74.
30.
MorusI. R. (2005). When physics became king. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
31.
MorusI. R. (2010a). Placing performance. Isis, 101, 755-788.
32.
MorusI. R. (2010b). Worlds of wonder. Sensation and the Victorian scientific performance. Isis, 101, 806-816.
33.
MyersN. (2010). Pedagogy and performativity rendering laboratory lives in the documentaryNaturally Obsessed: The Making of a Scientist. Isis, 101, 817-828.
34.
PangA. (1996). Gender, culture, and astrophysical fieldwork: Elizabeth Campbell and the Lick Observatory-Crocker eclipse expeditions. Osiris, 11, 17-43.
35.
PangA. (2002). Empire and the sun. Victorian solar eclipse expeditions. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
36.
SaraviaA. (n.d.). El eclipse en Yerbanis (Booklet 335) [The eclipse at Yerbanis]. Mexico City, Mexico: Biblioteca del Instituto de Astronomía, UNAM.
37.
SchafferS. (1993). The consuming flame: Electrical showmen and Tory mystics in the world of goods. In BrewerJ.PorterR. (Eds.), Consumption and the world of goods (pp. 489-526). London, England: Routledge.
38.
SecordJ. (2000). Victorian sensation. The extraordinary publication, reception, and secret authorship of vestiges of the natural history of creation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.
39.
ShapinS.SchafferS. (2011). Leviathan and the air pump: Hobbes, Boyle and the experimental life. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
40.
SlocumF. (1922). Star fields for the 1922 and 1923 eclipses of the sun. Astronomical Journal, 31, 87-88.
41.
StanleyM. (2003). “An expedition to heal the wounds of war.” The 1919 Eclipse and Eddington as Quaker adventurer. Isis, 94, 57-89.
42.
StewartL. (1992). The rise of public science: Rhetoric, technology, and natural philosophy in Newtonian Britain, 1660-1750. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
43.
WerretS. (2010). The astronomical capital of the world: Pulkovo observatory in the Russia of Tsar Nicholas I. In AubinD.BiggC.SibumO. (Eds.), The heavens on earth. Observatories and astronomy in nineteenth century science and culture (pp. 33-57). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
44.
WintroubM. (2010). Taking a bow in the theatre of things. Isis, 101, 779-793.
