Charlotte Bigg & Kurt Vanhoutte
PARS recently published a special issue on Spectacular Astronomy with the journal Early Popular Visual Culture. The nine contributions together address the theatre and various planetariums as a conduit to perform science since the 19th century and into the 21th century, especially in relation to changing ideas of theatricality, the modern culture of spectacle and the complex struggle between aesthetic and scientific concerns. The issue also testifies to the intertwined histories of popular observatories, museums and theatres as urban sites for spectacular science.