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West-Side Story (On the History of Density-Wave Spiral Theories in the 1960s)

Leonid Marochnik
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Abstract

This paper deals with the history of Density-Wave Spiral Theories in the 1960s. The motivation to write the paper was the publication of two papers on the history of these theories (Pasha 2004a,b). Pasha's papers tell only a part of the story that took place on the Western side of the Iron Curtain in the 1960s. But giving only a part of the full story is a distortion of historical truth. Important work done on the Eastern side of the Iron Curtain is still little known in the West. In this paper, I fill the gaps and correct chronological inaccuracies in Pasha's story and mention facts that are still unknown (or little known) to the astronomical community in the West. I also give my recollection of the development of Density-Wave Spiral Theories in the 1960s.

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Leonid Marochnik. 2005-01-10. West-Side Story (On the History of Density-Wave Spiral Theories in the 1960s). https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0501170

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