Abstract
The International Geophysical Year (IGY, now often referred to as IPY-3) was suggested as a Third Polar Year on the evening of Wednesday, 5 April 1950, at 1105 Meurilee Lane, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA (Fig. 9.1). (In 1946 the Geological Society of South Africa had put a similar proposal before the British Polar Committee, which turned it down.) The occasion was an informal dinner party at the home of upper atmosphere physicist James (1914–2006) and mathematician Abigail Halsey (1922–) Van Allen, and their guests were Sydney Chapman (1888–1970, visiting from Britain), Merle Tuve (1901–1982), Lloyd Berkner (1905–1967), Harry Vestine (1906–1968), Wallace Joyce (1907–1970) and Fred Singer (1924–).1 All except Tuve, Vestine and Abigail Van Allen were working directly or indirectly for the US government at the time.
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Notes
- 1.
The presence of Tuve, long suspected by the present author, has only recently been confirmed with resonable certainty (Van Allen, 1983).
- 2.
Van Allen (1950).
- 3.
Fleming J.A. and Laursen, V. (1949:308–309).
- 4.
For all phases of Berkner’s career referred to here, see: Needell (2000).
- 5.
R. A. Lovett, Under Secretary of State, letter to A. N. Richards, president of the National Academy of Science, 9 July 1948: Archives of the National Academies of Science.
References
Archives of the National Academies of Science, Central Policy Files, 1946–1949, Committee on Antarctic Research: 1949; 1948/: R.A. Lovett, Under Secretary of State, letter to A. N. Richards, president of the National Academy of Science, 9 July 1948.
Fleming, J.A., and V. Laursen 1949: International Polar Year of 1932–1933. Science 110: 308–309.
Needell, A.A. 2000: Science, Cold War and the American State: Lloyd V. Berkner and the Balance of Professional Ideals. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
Van Allen, J.A. 1950: The Use of Rockets in Upper Atmospheric Research, in Transactions of Oslo Meeting, August 27–28, 1948. IATME Bulletin 13:531–536.
Van Allen J.A. 1983: Genesis of the International Geophysical Year. EOS 64: 977.
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Bulkeley, R. (2010). Origins of the International Geophysical Year. 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_9
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