International Geophysical Year

International Geophysical Year

The International Geophysical Year or IGY was an international scientific effort that lasted from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958.

The IGY encompassed eleven Earth sciences: aurora and airglow, cosmic rays, geomagnetism, gravity, ionospheric physics, longitude and latitude determinations (precision mapping), meteorology, oceanography, seismology and solar activity.

Both the U.S. and the Soviet Union launched artificial satellites for this event; the Soviet Union's "Sputnik 1" of October 1957 was the first successful artificial satellite. Other significant achievements of the IGY included the discovery of the Van Allen Belts and the discovery of mid-ocean submarine ridges, an important confirmation of plate tectonics. [ [http://www.cmdl.noaa.gov/obop/spo/igy_history.html ESRL Global Monitoring Division ] ]

Events

International Polar Years were held in 1882–1883 and 1932–1933. Another International Polar Year is in progress from 2007–2009.

In March 1950, at a gathering of eight or ten top scientists (including Lloyd Berkner, S. Fred Singer, and Harry Vestine) in James Van Allen's living room, someone suggested that with the development of new tools such as rockets, radar and computers, the time was ripe for a worldwide geophysical year.

From the March 1950 meeting, Lloyd Berkner and other participants proposed to the International Council of Scientific Unions that an International Geophysical Year (IGY) be planned for 1957—58—during the maximum solar activity. [ [http://www.nas.edu/history/igy The International Geophysical Year, 1957-1958 ] ]

April 11, 1957, the U.S. Navy tests a satellite to an altitude of 126 mi. [E. Emme, ed., "Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1915–1960", p. 85.]

October 4, 1957, the USSR launches Sputnik 1.

November 8, 1957, U.S. Secretary of Defense Neil McElroy instructs the U.S. Army to use a modified Jupiter-C rocket to launch a satellite as part of the IGY.Citation
last1 = Winter| first1 = Frank H
last = van der Linden| first2 = Robert
title = Out of the Past
magazine = Aerospace America |page=p38
date = November 2007 | year = 2007
]

January 31, 1958, the U.S. launches Explorer 1.

July 29, 1958, the U.S. creates NASA.

Antarctica

IGY triggered an eighteen-month year of Antarctic science. The International Council of Scientific Unions, a parent body, broadened the proposals from polar studies to geophysical research. More than 70 existing national scientific organizations then formed IGY committees, and participated in the cooperative effort.

Halley Research Station was founded in 1956, for IGY, by an expedition from the Royal Society. The bay where the expedition set up their base was named Halley Bay, after the astronomer Edmond Halley.

IGY representations in popular culture

Donald Fagen album

IGY is featured in a song of the same name, titled in full as "I.G.Y. (International Geophysical Year)", on Donald Fagen's 1982 album, "The Nightfly." In 1993, this same song was recorded by Howard Jones and released on his "Best Of" album. The song also contains a reference to Spandex, which is an anachronism, since the fiber was first invented in 1959.

Walt Kelly's "Pogo"

The International Geophysical Year is featured prominently during 1957–1958 run of "Pogo" comic strips by Walt Kelly. The characters in the strip refer to the scientific initiative as the "G.O. Fizzickle Year." During this run, the characters try to make their own contributions to scientific endeavours, such as putting a flea on the moon. A subsequent compilation of the strips was published by "Simon & Schuster SC" in 1958 as "G.O. Fizzickle Pogo" and later "Pogo's Will Be That Was" in 1979.

Punch cartoon

The IGY was featured in a cartoon by Russell Brockbank in "Punch magazine" in November 1956. It shows the three main superpowers Great Britain, USA and USSR at the South Pole, each with a gathering of penguins who they are trying to educate with "culture". The penguins in the British camp are being bored with Francis Bacon; in the American camp they are happily playing baseball, whilst the Russian camp resembles a gulag, with barbed-wire fences and the penguins are made to march and perform military maneuvers.

ee also

*List of Antarctica expeditions
*International Biological Program
*Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station
*International Year of Planet Earth

References & Footnotes

* [http://scaa.usask.ca/gallery/northern/currie/en_polaryear.shtml University of Saskatchewan Archives]
* [http://www.wdc.rl.ac.uk/ionosondes/history History of ionosondes, at the U.K.'s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory]
* [http://www.arctic.at/castaway/history/history.html History of arctic exploration]
* [http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/van90/VanAllenBio_LudwigOct2004.pdf James Van Allen, From High School to the Beginning of the Space Era: A Biographical Sketch] by George Ludwig

External links

* [http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/dl/IGY/IGYdocuments.html Documents regarding the International Geophysical Year, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • International Geophysical Year —       worldwide program of geophysical research that was conducted from July 1957 to December 1958. IGY was directed toward a systematic study of the Earth and its planetary environment. The IGY encompassed research in 11 fields of geophysics:… …   Universalium

  • International Polar Year — The International Polar Year (or IPY) is a collaborative, international effort researching the polar regions. Karl Weyprecht, an Austro Hungarian naval officer, motivated the endeavor, but died before it first occurred in 1882 1883. Fifty years… …   Wikipedia

  • International Heliophysical Year — The International Heliophysical Year is a UN sponsored but scientifically driven international program of scientific collaboration to understand external drivers of planetary environments and universal processes in solar terrestrial planetary… …   Wikipedia

  • Geophysical Year — Geophysical Year, a year set aside for the study of the earth, especially its interior, the atmosphere, magnetic and gravitational phenomena, and the like. Scientists from all parts of the world participate. The International Geophysical Year,… …   Useful english dictionary

  • International observance — This is not a list of National Days, commemorative days, or days which have some significance in one or a very small number of countries. International observance (also known as international dedication or international anniversary) denotes a… …   Wikipedia

  • international relations — a branch of political science dealing with the relations between nations. [1970 75] * * * Study of the relations of states with each other and with international organizations and certain subnational entities (e.g., bureaucracies and political… …   Universalium

  • International Year of Planet Earth — The United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth to increase awareness of the importance of Earth sciences for the achievement of sustainable development.UN document |docid=A RES 60 192 |type=Resolution… …   Wikipedia

  • International Biological Program — The International Biological Program (IBP) was an effort between 1964 and 1974 to coordinate large scale ecological and environmental studies. Organized in the wake of the successful International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957 1958, the… …   Wikipedia

  • Geophysical MASINT — is a branch of Measurement and Signature Intelligence (MASINT) that involves phenomena transmitted through the earth (ground, water, atmosphere) and manmade structures including emitted or reflected sounds, pressure waves, vibrations, and… …   Wikipedia

  • Physical year — You may be looking for:*Fiscal year, used for calculating annual financial reports in businesses *International Geophysical Year, an international scientific effort in 1957 1958 *International Heliophysical year, an international scientific… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”