Influence of Society on Astronomical Discovery

I discuss the influence of society on astronomical discovery, concentrating on the last half century, during which astronomy evolved into a ‘big science’. Astronomy is observationally driven. The observational facilities needed to make paradigm-changing discoveries have become so sophisticated and expensive that only funding on a global scale is sufficient to enable their construction and operation. Decisions to allocate such large amounts of public funding are inevitably political ones that need broad-based argumentation to justify them. I summarise the justification for modern astronomy and its benefits to society given in the new IAU strategic plan and suggest that participation in such activities is a cost-effective way for astronomers to stimulate funding for astronomical research. Finally, I discuss the influence of societal developments on the personality of astronomers, argue that these tend to stifle nonconformity and speculate about how the changes might affect future astronomical discoveries. ...........................