IGY Bulletin, Number 1, July 1957 - Introduction

On July 2, 2006 -- 49 years and 1 day after the start of the IGY -- I bought a complete bound set of the IGY Bulletins.  I happened to print out and save a paper copy of this transaction (eBay only saves your purchase history for 3 years), since at $400 it is my most expensive IGY purchase to date.

Most of the time these Bulletins just sit in my IGY bookcase.

This was a monthly bulletin, published by the National Academy of Sciences from the first issue at the beginning of the IGY in July, 1957, through June, 1965, a total of 96 issues. They are typically 16 to 24 pages in length. Although my resolve remains to be tested, I thought I would start reporting every month on a successive issue of the Bulletin here, learning more about the science of the IGY along the way. I'm starting late, but since this is the last day of July, at least I am getting started under the wire.

I have not yet found these Bulletins to be digitally available (although I'll check with a couple of librarians on this), so part of my endeavor will to be scan and post each Bulletin. In some cases, I may not be able to scan text close to the inside of the spine, but I think you'll probably be able to interpolate any missing text. Then I'll plan throughout the anniversary month to summarize the articles in that issue. Here is the scan of IGY Bulletin issue #1, June 1957.

The articles in this issue are:

1. Introduction
2. Antarctic Program
3. Arctic Drift Ice Station Program
4. The Earth Satellite Program
5. Status Report: Seismology, Gravity and Longitude & Latitude
6. Reports from Other Countries

The Introduction was written by Hugh Odishaw, who was executive director of the U.S. National Committee for the International Geophysical Year. He states that the purpose of the Bulletin is to present current information on the IGY program of interest to geophysicists. The contents will include brief reports on projects in the U.S. program, and news of activities in other countries. He credits the two agencies that especially made the U.S. IGY program possible: the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense. This is indicative of the overlapping interests of both civilian scientists and military strategists for the knowledge gleaned. 

More on the other articles very soon, even as we move into August.

Cover #060 in my IGY checklist is signed by Hugh Odishaw (1916-1984). He was Dean of the College of Earth Sciences from 1972-1984, during which time I was a graduate student at the University of Arizona for my M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Dr. Odishaw and I exchanged pleasantries now and then, but I wish I had gotten to know him better, and learned more about his experiences with the IGY.

A minor planet was named after Odishaw. The citation was written by noted comet researcher Elizabeth Roemer, from whom I took a course in comets at the University of Arizona.