In this issue of JAHH we belatedly celebrate with the noted American historian of astronomy Dr. David DeVorkin, who had his 80^th Birthday earlier in the year. The following pages contain a selection of papers, on wide-ranging topics, all dedicated to David. Some papers are tributes and ‘Thank yous’ to him; others overlap with his own areas of research interest and expertise; while others again reflect on the associations the authors have enjoyed with David serving on committees and in other groups over the years. All join in wishing David a belated Happy 80^th Birthday, and success and prosperity in years to come.

The cover photograph shows David and a 16-inch Boller & Chivens reflector at the Oak Ridge Observatory and is drawn from the delightful paper by Sara Schechner (pages 907–916) where she describes the adventures she and David enjoyed (or maybe ‘endured’ is a better description) when they tried to save instruments and other astronomical material at the abandoned Observatory.

In this issue of JAHH we belatedly celebrate with the noted American historian of astronomy Dr. David DeVorkin, who had his 80^th Birthday earlier in the year. The following pages contain a selection of papers, on wide-ranging topics, all dedicated to David. Some papers are tributes and ‘Thank yous’ to him; others overlap with his own areas of research interest and expertise; while others again reflect on the associations the authors have enjoyed with David serving on committees and in other groups over the years. All join in wishing David a belated Happy 80^th Birthday, and success and prosperity in years to come.

The cover photograph shows David and a 16-inch Boller & Chivens reflector at the Oak Ridge Observatory and is drawn from the delightful paper by Sara Schechner (pages 907–916) where she describes the adventures she and David enjoyed (or maybe ‘endured’ is a better description) when they tried to save instruments and other astronomical material at the abandoned Observatory.