2009 Koyré medal presented
ESA's Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain received the Alexandre Koyré medal on behalf of ESA from the International Academy of the History of Science (IAHS), for work carried out the ESA History Project, on 4 September.
At a ceremony at ESA Headquarters, the President of the IAHS, Eberhard Knobloch, said that the History Project as a whole had 'completely revitalised the scientific, technological, industrial and political history of the conquest of space, and of European cooperation.'
Leading history professors John Krige, Arturo Russo and Michelangelo de Maria initiated the project in 1989. They presented a case for writing the history of the joint European space effort to former ESA Director General Reimar Lüst. From 1993, Dr Lorenza Sebesta made a significant contribution to the project.
Presented in two volumes, A History of the European Space Agency traces the history of the European collaborative space programme from the late 1950s to 1987 and includes the history of ESA's predecessor organisations ESRO and ELDO.
Composed of European science historians and space pioneers, the History Study Team also produced a series of books presenting European national programmes.
The IAHS has been presenting the Alexandre Koyré medal every two years since 1968.
