The message below is forwarded from Mike
Gorn FYI.
Steve Dick
Dr. Steven J. Dick
NASA Chief Historian
Director, NASA History Division
Office of External Relations
NASA Headquarters
300 E Street SW
202 358 0383 (PH)
202 358 2866 (Fax)
steven.j.dick@nasa.gov
________________
REQUEST FOR HISTORY ARTICLES:
INTERNATIONAL TEST AND EVALUATION ASSOCIATION JOURNAL
I am writing as chair of the history
committee for the Journal of the International Test and Evaluation Association
(ITEA), a professional, attractive, magazine-style quarterly distributed to
practitioners of T&E the world over. For the most part, the journal
concerns itself with testing developments and techniques as applied to a broad
range of disciplines--often, but not always, things that fly.
As history editor, I am responsible each
quarter for a column entitled "Historical Perspectives," involving
short historical sketches of up to 1,200 words, with three or four photographs
to accompany them. Longer historical pieces have also been published in
the main part of the journal for subjects of special interest to the
association.
The subject matter under my editorship has
been intentionally broad. We are appealing to a wide range of T&E
practitioners--not so much professional historians--so it is important to
publish subjects that are varied and novel to keep the readers
interested. We have done one about an incident involving flight testing
during World War I; another on truck fairing tests designed to increase fuel
economy during the energy crisis of the 1970s; and a third on the human
factors--not just the machinery--involved in the near-fatal crash of a pilot of
one of the NASA lifting bodies. All are back noted and, although short,
offer good scholarship that (one hopes) will pique further reading and fresh
perspectives.
All periods of history are open, and
T&E is defined liberally: in the modern sense of complex, computerized
experiments, but also the much less complex T&E as understood in earlier
periods. Articles can be about (for example) specific aircraft (or sub-system)
tests, influential individuals in the field of testing, technological turning
points, or about unique supporting subjects (for instance, the T&E of
airline food!). It can also be a first-person account. Moreover,
submissions need not be dominated solely by test and evaluation; ideally, they
will feature T&E in some broader context.
Finally, we are informal in our
process. The journal gives me wide latitude to find submissions, so once
I make contact with a potential author and we hash out a subject, he or she can
be virtually certain that it will indeed be published--there is no complex
approval process to undergo (but there are the usual editorial agonies that
come later!).
Whether you are a historian, a T&E
practitioner, or a person with complementary interests, I hope you will
consider this publishing opportunity. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Michael Gorn, Ph.D.
Building 4800, Mail Stop 1021
Edwards, CA 93523
work: 661.276.2355
mobile: 661.810.8625
michael.gorn@dfrc.nasa.gov