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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 science
Earth science

Earth science , is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth . It is arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-bearing planet....
s: aurora and airglow
Airglow

The airglow is the very weak emission of light by the Earth's atmosphere; as a result, the night sky is never completely dark. It was first noticed in 1868 by Anders ?ngstr?m....
, cosmic ray
Cosmic ray

Cosmic rays are energetic particles originating from space that impinge on Earth's atmosphere. Almost 90% of all the incoming cosmic ray particles are protons, about 9% are helium nuclei and about 1% are electrons ....
s, geomagnetism
Earth's magnetic field

Earth's magnetic field is approximately a magnetic dipole, with one magnetic pole near the north pole and the other near the geographic south pole ....
, gravity, ionospheric physics
Ionosphere

The ionosphere is the uppermost part of the Earth's atmosphere, distinguished because it is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere....
, longitude
Longitude

Longitude , symbolized by the Greek character lambda , is the geographic coordinate most commonly used in cartography and global navigation for east-west measurement....
 and latitude
Latitude

Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps ....
 determinations (precision mapping), meteorology
Meteorology

Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting . Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the eighteenth century....
, oceanography
Oceanography

Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean. It covers a wide range of topics, including marine organisms and ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics; plate tectonics and the geology of the sea floor; and fluxes of various chemi...
, seismology
Seismology

Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of Linear elasticity#Elastic waves through the Earth. The field also includes studies of earthquake effects, such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, oceanic, atmospheric, and artificial processes ....
 and solar activity.

Both the U.S.
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 launched artificial satellite
Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an Physical body which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s for this event; the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1

Sputnik 1 was the world's first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite. It was launched into a low altitude elliptical orbit by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, and was the first in a series of satellites collectively known as the Sputnik program....
 of October 1957 was the first successful artificial satellite.






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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 science
Earth science

Earth science , is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth . It is arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-bearing planet....
s: aurora and airglow
Airglow

The airglow is the very weak emission of light by the Earth's atmosphere; as a result, the night sky is never completely dark. It was first noticed in 1868 by Anders ?ngstr?m....
, cosmic ray
Cosmic ray

Cosmic rays are energetic particles originating from space that impinge on Earth's atmosphere. Almost 90% of all the incoming cosmic ray particles are protons, about 9% are helium nuclei and about 1% are electrons ....
s, geomagnetism
Earth's magnetic field

Earth's magnetic field is approximately a magnetic dipole, with one magnetic pole near the north pole and the other near the geographic south pole ....
, gravity, ionospheric physics
Ionosphere

The ionosphere is the uppermost part of the Earth's atmosphere, distinguished because it is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere....
, longitude
Longitude

Longitude , symbolized by the Greek character lambda , is the geographic coordinate most commonly used in cartography and global navigation for east-west measurement....
 and latitude
Latitude

Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps ....
 determinations (precision mapping), meteorology
Meteorology

Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting . Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the eighteenth century....
, oceanography
Oceanography

Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean. It covers a wide range of topics, including marine organisms and ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics; plate tectonics and the geology of the sea floor; and fluxes of various chemi...
, seismology
Seismology

Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of Linear elasticity#Elastic waves through the Earth. The field also includes studies of earthquake effects, such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, oceanic, atmospheric, and artificial processes ....
 and solar activity.

Both the U.S.
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 launched artificial satellite
Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an Physical body which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s for this event; the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1

Sputnik 1 was the world's first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite. It was launched into a low altitude elliptical orbit by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, and was the first in a series of satellites collectively known as the Sputnik program....
 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
Plate tectonics

Plate tectonics describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere. The theory encompasses the older concepts of continental drift, developed during the first decades of the 20th century by Alfred Wegener, and seafloor spreading, understood during the 1960s....
.

Events

International Polar Year
International Polar Year

The International Polar Year 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....
s 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
Lloyd Berkner

Lloyd Viel Berkner was an American physicist and engineer. He is notable as the first person to measure the height and density of the ionosphere....
, S. Fred Singer
Fred Singer

Siegfried Frederick Singer is an United States Atmospheric physics. Singer is Professor Emeritus of environmental science at the University of Virginia, specializing in planetary science, global warming, ozone depletion, and other global environmental issues....
, and Harry Vestine) in James Van Allen
James Van Allen

James Alfred Van Allen was an United States space scientist at the University of Iowa. The Van Allen radiation belts were named after him, following the 1958 satellite missions in which Van Allen had argued that a Geiger counter should be used to detect charged Subatomic particles....
'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.

April 11, 1957, the U.S. Navy tests a satellite to an altitude of 126 mi.

October 4, 1957, the USSR launches the world's first artificial satellite - the Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1

Sputnik 1 was the world's first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite. It was launched into a low altitude elliptical orbit by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, and was the first in a series of satellites collectively known as the Sputnik program....
.

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.

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

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

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
.

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
Halley Research Station

Halley Research Station, run by the British Antarctic Survey, is located on the Brunt Ice Shelf floating on the Weddell Sea in Antarctica is a British research facility dedicated to the study of the Earth's atmosphere....
 was founded in 1956, for IGY, by an expedition from the Royal Society
Royal Society

The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, or even the Royal, is a learned society for science that was founded in 1660 and is considered by most to be the oldest such society still in existence....
. The bay where the expedition set up their base was named Halley Bay, after the astronomer Edmond Halley
Edmond Halley

Edmond Halley Royal Society was an English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist.Biography and career ...
.

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
Donald Fagen

Donald Jay Fagen is an United States musician and songwriter. He is co-founder, lead singer, and the principal songwriter of the jazz-influenced Rock music musical ensemble Steely Dan....
's 1982 album, The Nightfly
The Nightfly

The Nightfly is the first solo album by Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen, released in 1982 in music. It was one of the first fully digital recordings of popular music....
. The song peaked at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1993, this same song was recorded by Howard Jones
Howard Jones (musician)

Howard Jones is an England singer and songwriter who gained acclaim in the 1980s....
 and released on his "Best Of" album. The song also contains a reference to Spandex
Spandex

Spandex or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity . It is stronger and more durable than rubber, its major non-synthetic competitor....
, 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
Walt Kelly

Walter Crawford Kelly, Jr , known as Walt Kelly, was a cartoonist notable for his comic strip Pogo featuring characters that inhabited a portion of the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia ....
. 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
Brockbank

Russell Brockbank was a Canada-born cartoonist who spent much of his working life in the United Kingdom. He was actually born in Niagara Falls, Ontario....
 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
Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban King's Counsel , son of Nicholas Bacon by his second wife Anne Bacon, was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, and author....
; in the American camp they are happily playing baseball, whilst the Russian camp resembles a gulag
Gulag

The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. Gulag is the Russian acronym for The Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies of the NKVD....
, with barbed-wire fences and the penguins are made to march and perform military maneuvers.

See also

  • List of Antarctic expeditions
  • International Biological Program
    International Biological Program

    The International Biological Program 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 of 1957-1958, the International Biological Program was an attempt to apply the methods of big science to ecosystem ecology and pressi...
  • Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station
    Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station

    Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station National Historic Site, found atop Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park, commemorates Canada participation in the International Geophysical Year, during 1957 to 1958....
  • International Year of Planet Earth
    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....


External links