Add history of project to website #485
Conversation
|
I feel like @perrygreenfield should review this. 😸 |
history.html
Outdated
| its use at more institutions. STScI was also active in the development of | ||
| Python tools for science, including a pre-cursor to numpy and early versions | ||
| of matplotlib. By the early 2010s there were multiple individual, | ||
| uncoordinated efforts to use Python for data analysis.</p> |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
This paragraph feels like doesn't fairly represent the role of folks outside STScI in the early days of astronomical Python.
For example:
- Some of the earliest references in the literature are from outside STScI.
- From at least 2005/6, major projects like LSST (as it then was) and LOFAR were using Python in pipeline development.
- I'm not sure exactly when AIPS++/CASA switched from Glish to Python, but I think it was around 2004 when the project was renamed.
Don't get me wrong — the massive effort from STScI certainly deserves to be called out here! I just feel the passing mention of “individual, uncoordinated efforts” doesn't really do justice to what was already a vibrant and active community by the mid-2000s.
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Good point -- the mid-2000s as the launch point is also well supported by Figure 1 from Paper III. That is when mentions of Python start to steadily increase in the literature.
There was a problem hiding this comment.
I tried to improve the language here by using "independent" instead of "uncoordinated" and making it clearer that the uptake was broad.
If you think it is important I can some of the links you provided.
history.html
Outdated
| development of the project’s web presence. The Facebook group “Python in | ||
| Astronomy’’ has been wildly successful with over 6400 members and nearly | ||
| daily postings. This success is in part because of careful moderation by | ||
| members of the project to keep conversations on topic. Workshops at AAS |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
I don't really follow Facebook, but I found the naming here a bit surprising. Is “Python in Astronomy” really managed by the Astropy Project? If so: great! If it's a more general group covering all aspects of Python in astronomy that isn't specifically managed by Astropy (which is what the name implies), then the Project shouldn't claim responsibility for moderating it.
I don't know either way; I just thought it was worth checking!
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Will check on this -- it was definitely started at, or as a result of, PyAstro 2015. The moderators were, at least initially, astropy folks. It was deliberately set up as a broad python/astronomy group not as an astropy group.
It grew organically from there.
I'm not 100% sure who the current moderators are.
There was a problem hiding this comment.
It was definitely Astropy-managed for the first several years. I am still the primary moderator. We have recruited more moderators, some heavily involved in Astropy (e.g, Derek H) while others are not. While I think the current status is ambiguous, I think the history remains true.
There was a problem hiding this comment.
I rewrote this a bit to make clearer that Astropy shepherded it at first but that it has become more of a community effort.
history.html
Outdated
| potential future employers may not scientifically value this software work, | ||
| regardless of its impact on astronomy as a whole.</p> | ||
|
|
||
| <p>Looking back, the success of the Project hinged on a number of factors, |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
This feels very conclusive (“History is now at an end (see p. 123); this history is therefore final”). I hope the history of Astropy is still being written, and — ultimately — the success (or otherwise...) of the project is still in the making. Maybe include some sort of caveat to that effect, or at least an indication of the perspective from which this is being written (“As of mid-2022, the success of the ...”).
There was a problem hiding this comment.
😂 had never heard of that book! Agree that this should be rephrased.
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Hopefully the update reads a bit less conclusively.
Co-authored-by: P. L. Lim <2090236+pllim@users.noreply.github.com>
|
Thanks for the comments everyone! This will be merged in a moment. If there are additional changes you think should happen please open a new issue or a pull request. |
This pull request adds a (relatively) brief history of the astropy project to the website.
Feedback on this would be very helpful. While an attempt has been made to include major events in the history of astropy, and to acknowledge the breadth of contributions to the project, there well may be unintentional omissions. This draft includes text written by a few different people, so there may be abrupt changes in tone or style.