The century, and especially its second half, has seen a dramatic change in the way data were collected, recorded and handled, as well as how the ultimate product was distributed either to scientists, to students or to the public at large. Beyond a compact historical review, this paper offers also a few considerations touching issues such as the available manpower and the place of astronomy in our society. 1. From Freezing in the Domes ... That mountain gear had been bought in the early seventies at a well-known sports shop downtown in Paris' Quartier Latin. It was a must for a young astronomer who was going to visit observatories round the world. Much of astronomical observing was still then carried out from within the domes, with an inside temperature equal to the outside one in order to avoid air turbulence through the opening (that would blur images). In deep winter, this meant freezing for twelve hour periods. So in order to survive, it was necessary to look like a Michelin Bibendum dressed in that mountain gear complete with lined shoes, thick trousers and hooded jacket stuffed with bird down. Only the fur gloves would be temporarily taken off for the necessary operations with the hands and then put on again. That equipment was so cosy and warm that it must have happened at least once to every astronomer and night assistant of the time to fall sound asleep in the loneliness and darkness of the dome, occasionally with the help of a gentle music. Under the sky lurking through the dome opening, the telescope drive was then left to itself, gently steering the instrument This book is dedicated to the memory of Gisèle Mersch whose life ended prematurely in June 2002. Back in the 1970s, when few people were using them, Gisèle introduced me to the arcane secrets of then advanced m- tivariate statistical methodologies. I was already involved in more classical statistical studies undertaken at Paris Observatory with Jean Jung: developing and applying maxim- likelihood algorithms to stellar photometric and kinematic data in order to derive absolute luminosities, distances and velocities in the solar neighb- hood. But what could be envisaged with those methodologies was something of another dimension: for the first time, I could really see how to extract information from massive amounts of data without calling for elaborated physical or mechanical theories. Several pioneering applications were developed under Gisèle's guidance and with her collaboration to study the delicate interface between spect- scopic and photometric data. Thus errors in spectral classifications were investigated as well as predictions of spectral classifications from pho- metric indices (see Heck 1976, Heck et al. 1977, Heck & Mersch 1980 and Mersch & Heck 1980), with very interesting results for the time. Gisèle also took part in studies of period determination algorithms (see Mersch & Heck 1981, Manfroid et al. 1983 and Heck et al. 1985) "This book offers a unique review of how astronomical information handling (in the broad sense) evolved in the course of the 20th century, and especially during its second half. This volume is a natural complement to the book 'Information Handling in Astronomy' published in the same series. The scope of these two volumes includes not only dealing with professional astronomical data from the collecting instruments (ground-based and space-borne) to the user/researchers, but also publishing, education and public outreach. In short, the information flow in astronomy is thus illustrated from sources (cosmic objects) to end (mankind's knowledge)." "This book will be very useful for researchers, teachers, editors, publishers, librarians, computer scientists, sociologists of science, research planners and strategists, project managers, public-relations officers, plus those in charge of astronomy-related organizations, as well as for students aiming at a career in astronomy or related space science."--Jacket This book offers a unique review of how astronomical information handling (in the broad sense) evolved in the course of the 20th century, and especially during its second half. This volume is a natural complement to the book Information Handling in Astronomy published in the same series. The scope of these two volumes includes not only dealing with professional astronomical data from the collecting instruments (ground-based and space-borne) to the users / researchers, but also publishing, education and public outreach. In short, the information flow in astronomy is thus illustrated from sources (cosmic objects) to end (mankind's knowledge). This book will be very useful for researchers, teachers, editors, publishers, librarians, computer scientists, sociologists of science, research planners and strategists, project managers, public-relations officers, plus those in charge of astronomy-related organizations, as well as by students aiming at a career in astronomy or related space science.
