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The IPY-3: The International Geophysical Year (1957–1958)

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The History of the International Polar Years (IPYs)

Part of the book series: From Pole to Pole ((POLE))

Abstract

The International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957–1958 was an extraordinary achievement in the midst of the Cold War. Thousands of scientists from 65 countries were engaged in international collaboration for the purpose of expanding knowledge about the earth and outer space.1 The United States and the Soviet Union, despite crises in Berlin, Hungary and Korea alongside mounting anxiety about atomic weapons testing, were nonetheless willing and able to contribute to a programme of research, which encapsulated inter alia the remote Antarctic continent.2 While science and its associated practices of investigation and knowledge creation unquestionably enabled international co-operation, it would be wrong to conclude that the IGY was untouched by the prevailing Cold War zeitgeist. The US military and national security institutions such as the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency were deeply interested and involved in providing resources, influencing research programmes and encouraging political leaders like President Eisenhower to conceive of scientific endeavour in terms of national prestige and geopolitical advantage.3 The Antarctic and of course the Arctic were major recipients of the apparent largesse of the military–industrial–academic complex.4

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Chapman (1959), Sullivan (1961), Wilson (1961).

  2. 2.

    Beck (2010).

  3. 3.

    Collis and Dodds (2008).

  4. 4.

    Doel (2003) and Powell (2008).

  5. 5.

    Korsmo (2007).

  6. 6.

    Dodds (2002).

  7. 7.

    Beck (1986).

  8. 8.

    Beck (2010) and Dodds (1997).

  9. 9.

    Howkins (2008).

  10. 10.

    Naylor et al. (2008).

  11. 11.

    Dodds (2008).

  12. 12.

    Collis and Stevens (2007).

  13. 13.

    Toma (1956).

  14. 14.

    Dodds (2010) and Naylor et al. (2008).

  15. 15.

    Dodds (2008).

  16. 16.

    Rothwell (2010).

  17. 17.

    Beck (1986).

  18. 18.

    Dodds (2002).

  19. 19.

    Pinochet de la Barra (1994).

  20. 20.

    Genest (1998).

  21. 21.

    Rigoz (2002).

  22. 22.

    Instituto Antártico Argentino (1960).

  23. 23.

    Comerci (1979).

  24. 24.

    Dirección Nacional del Antártico (1983).

  25. 25.

    Pyne (2003:345).

  26. 26.

    Comisión Antártica Chilena (1955).

  27. 27.

    Hydrographical Bulletin 1957–1963 contains full details of the Chilean contribution.

  28. 28.

    Soviet Memorandum:209.

  29. 29.

    Bulkeley (2008) and Gan (2009a).

  30. 30.

    RGAE (1957). Nesmeyanov and Bakayev

  31. 31.

    Collis, C (2007), Gan (2009b, c), and Gan, In Press.

  32. 32.

    Belov (1960:84).

  33. 33.

    Lukin et al. (2006:436–437).

  34. 34.

    Nudelman (1966:58); Savatygin and Preobrazhenskaya:53.

  35. 35.

    Tryoshnikov (1959:215).

  36. 36.

    Tryoshnikov (1959:216).

  37. 37.

    Tryoshnikov (1960:189), Savatyugin and Preobrazhenskaya (2008:55).

  38. 38.

    Tryoshnikov (1960:172).

  39. 39.

    Tolstikov (1980:19).

  40. 40.

    Lukin et al. (2006:436).

  41. 41.

    Tolstikov (1980:18).

  42. 42.

    RGAE (1958). Tolstikov

  43. 43.

    Nudelman (1966:32).

  44. 44.

    Tolstikov (1980:20, 42).

  45. 45.

    Tryoshnikov (1959:220).

  46. 46.

    Tryoshnikov (1960:180).

  47. 47.

    Gan (2009c).

  48. 48.

    Tolstikov (1980:126).

  49. 49.

    Gan (2009c, 2010).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Politics and Environment Research Group, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK

    Klaus Dodds

  2. Institute of Antarctic & Southern Ocean Studies, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia

    Irina Gan

  3. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Adrian Howkins

Authors
  1. Klaus Dodds
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  2. Irina Gan
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  3. Adrian Howkins
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Klaus Dodds , Klaus Dodds , Adrian Howkins or Irina Gan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. c/o Directorate for Cultural Heritage, Oslo, 0034, Norway

    Susan Barr

  2. Fernpassstrasse 3, Munich, 81373, Germany

    Cornelia Luedecke

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Dodds, K., Gan, I., Howkins, A. (2010). The IPY-3: The International Geophysical Year (1957–1958). In: Barr, S., Luedecke, C. (eds) The History of the International Polar Years (IPYs). From Pole to Pole. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12402-0_10

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