1. There is no comprehensive encyclopedia of astronomical biographies.
2. There is an overwhelming quantity of biographical information, but spread over a very large number of sources, often not easily accessible.
3. There are numerous privat collections of biographies.
4. Presently, the most comprehensive and concentrated source of biographies is the World Wide Web (Internet).
URL: www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~pbrosche/astoria.html
5. There is a need for a biographical dictionary of astronomy, and it is time to initiate an international "Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomy".
1. There should be no selection of persons. The encyclopedia should include all persons related to the history of astronomy, for which biographical information is available.
2. This is long-term and never ending project.
3. Short biographies should be published in the Internet and in printed form as a loose-leaf edition. Longer biographical studies should be published as usually in books and journals (with references in the short biographies), but may later be made available in electronic form also. The loose-leaf edition should be printed in a simple way, so that it will be cheap and available for nearly everyone.
4. The project should be an international effort. The biographies may be published in different languages.
5. The participation of many authors will inavoidably lead to inhomogenious results. The mimimum requirement is that the sources of the information should be indicated.
Wolfgang R. Dick. Created: 24 Nov 1998