Solar eclipses and the IGY

Last night I was watching the PBS Nova show on the Great American Eclipse, taking place next Monday. (I have been watching Nova for over 40 years.) There are many other great sources for learning about the eclipse, such as this one from Astronomy Magazine. The Nova show made me think I should do a quick post on eclipses and the IGY.

Here is a briefer summary from National Geographic of what happens during a solar eclipse:

My editor and I are headed off to Columbus, Indiana, to see the eclipse, weather permitting. This will be my third total eclipse experience. My first was in March 7, 1970. I was driving down from college with a roomie to see it in Virginia, when I rear ended the car in front of me, and was towed to the car hospital. But we did get to see the eclipse from there! Then seven years ago (eclipses follow various rhythms, including a recurrence after seven years), I went to Casper Wyoming to see the eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017.

Cover from the 2017 eclipse in Casper, Wyoming. Stamp is Scott 5211, when the fingertip heat is applied to the thermochromic ink, the thermochromic ink disappears, revealing the photo of the Moon underneath. Cachet by KSC.

People had all kinds of ways of observing this event:

Solar studies were a major component of the IGY. In fact, the IGY was scheduled to be at a time of solar maximum, and when eclipses would occur. The U.S. IGY stamp as well as a number of IGY cover cachets illustrate solar activity.

First Day cover for U.S. IGY stamp (Scott 1107) showing solar activity, with a hand-painted solar cachet by B. Kraft. Cover US120 in my collection.

In a previous post about the IGY calendar, I noted that these eclipses were noted as special days of observation on the IGY calendar.

Most calendar years have two solar eclipses. And, there were three solar eclipses during the 18-month long IGY:

Oct. 23, 1957 - total

April 19, 1958 - annular

Oct. 12, 1958 - total

Plans for observing the last one, which provided better geography for observing than the other total eclipse, are described in the IGY Bulletin, number 12, June, 1958, p. 1-6. Walter Sullivan discusses the eclipse observations in his great book on the IGY, Assault on the Unknown, McGraw-Hill, 1961, Chapter 11, Eclipse, pp. 182-188. I may say more about these articles in my next post, but I need to finish packing. 

Why travel 10 hours to see a total eclipse, when I could see a 90% eclipse here in Lancaster? You can experience so much more during totality. This xkcd cartoon illustrates the difference:

xkcd 2914. "A partial eclipse is like a cool sunset. A total eclipse is like someone broke the sky."

I am taking my eclipse glasses to watch the eclipse develop outside of  the 4 minutes of totality, so be sure you also view the sun safely! Never look at the sun directly except when it totally eclipsed.

Do you have any favorite background stories or anecdotes relating to this stamp (interview question #5)?

Rather than answer the question originally posed, I will instead discuss why the a U.S. never issued an IGY-related stamp that you might have expected. Again, I rely below on some earlier posts (links shown) and NASA web pages.

The IGY events that almost certainly most captivated the attention of the public were the launchings of the first artificial satellites by both the Soviet Union and the U.S., a key area of research that had been planned for the IGY. Ironically, the beginning of the so-called "space race" took place during the IGY which trumpeted international scientific cooperation.

In 1952, the International Council of Scientific Unions had announced the establishment of the International Geophysical Year. In Oct. 1954, the Council adopted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be launched during the IGY. It was fully expected that both the U.S. and the Soviet Union would do this. In July 1955, the White House announced plans to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite for the IGY. In Sept. 1955, the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard proposal was chosen to carry out this mission. 

On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched the first satellite, Sputnik I. The Soviets struck again on Nov. 3 when Sputnik II was launched, carrying a much heavier payload (with consequent fears about ICBMs carrying nuclear warheads), including Laika, the dog. The United States attempt to respond with a Project Vanguard launch on Dec. 6 was a disaster, as the rocket only rose a few feet above the platform before it disintegrated in flames. During the next Vanguard test on Feb. 5, 1958, the launch vehicle reached an altitude of four miles but then exploded. At this point, the Army stepped in with Project Explorer under the direction of Wernher von Braun, which led to the first successful U.S. orbital launch of Explorer I aboard a Redstone rocket on Jan. 31,1958. Data collected with a geiger counter on this mission led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts.

Celebrating the launch of Explorer I are: William H. Pickering, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; James A. Van Allen, physicist who designed and built the instrument on Explorer that detected the eponymous radiation belts; and Wernher von Braun, leader of the Army's team which built the first stage Redstone booster that was part of the Jupiter C rocket that carried Explorer 1 into space. (Photo from NASA)

The Soviet Union and some of its allies wasted no time issuing stamps honoring the Sputnik launches. A stamp (Scott SU 1991, blow left) depicting Soviet rocket pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was issued on Oct. 7, 1957, just three days of the launch of Sputnik I. This was the bicentennial year of Tsiolkovsky's birth, but the date of issue was neither his birth nor death date. It hardly seems like a coincidence that the stamp was issued so shortly after the Sputnik launch. 

The same stamp (SU 2021, above right) was issued just seven weeks later on Nov. 28, 1957 with the overprint message of "First in the World Artificial Satellite."

Another Soviet Union stamp (SU 1992, right) for the launching of the first artificial earth satellite, depicting a satellite in orbit, was issued on Nov. 5, just a month after the launch of Sputnik I.

Sputnik II was similarly lauded with a set of four stamps (SU 2032-2035) issued on Dec. 30, 1957, eight weeks after the launch.

The U.S., on the other hand, did not issue a stamp honoring Explorer I after its successful launch as the third satellite into Earth orbit. I had speculated to myself that the U.S. did not want to highlight this milestone because its Cold War rival had won this first leg of the space race, and feared being seen as the loser in this competition. My opinion was confirmed thanks to Matin Modarressi (see his American Philatelic Society presentation on The Role of Stamps in U.S. Foreign Relations). Matin sent me the link to a document (https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80B01676R002700050014-5.pdf) dated Oct. 8, 1958, signed by CIA director Allen Dulles. It was from the Operations Coordinating Board (OCB), a committee of the United States Executive created in 1953 by an executive order of Pres. Eisenhower to provide oversight of United States covert operations. It stated that:

A suggestion by the Army was then brought up having to do with the possibility of a commemorative postage stamp in honor of the launching of Explorer 1. The majority of the Board felt that it might be unwise to issue such a stamp in view of the obvious disparity which now exists between our accomplishments in the satellite field and those of the USSR.

Fascinating documentation confirming my hypothesis! Also present at that OCB meeting was Abbott Washburn, mentioned in an earlier post as Deputy Director of the United States Information Agency and simultaneously a member of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee. Yes, stamps can be propaganda, as Matin pointed out in this piece.

In a similar fashion, I have learned from my other topical collection on North American earthquakes that the U.S. has never issued a stamp on an earthquake, or any natural disaster for that matter, even though other countries do so, to respect the tragedy or honor rebuilding efforts (see this article by Raymond Burby). The Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee listed its criteria for possible U.S. stamps in 2019 (see statement here), one of which states that:

The stamp program commemorates positive contributions to American life, history, culture and environment; therefore, negative occurrences and disasters will not be commemorated on U.S. postage stamps or stationery [italics mine].

That would seem to rule out earthquake stamps, as well as being second to another country. 

Finally, in 1999, Explorer 1 got its U.S. philatelic due (see stamp below), as a milestone event of the 1950s as part of the 1950s sheet (see below) in the series of 10 sheets to Celebrate the Century:

Scott US 3187d, front and back

Scott US 3187, souvenir sheet

Can you tell us how this stamp came to be selected for issue by the Post Office Department (interview question #4)?

Arthur E. Summerfield was the 57th Postmaster General (1953-61), an appointee of President Eisenhower. He presided over a modernization of the Post Office Department (known as the United States Postal Service since 1971). On March 26, 1957, just three months before the beginning of the International Geophysical Year, he created the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) in order to utilize public input to recommend stamp subjects to the PMG for final approval. These suggestions were to pay more attention to the design and aesthetic appeal of stamps and also to reinforce the interests of stamp collectors.

CSAC (Post Office Department photo; from the Bureau Specialist, vol. 28, June, 1957, p. 184)

CSAC held its first meeting at the Post Office Department in Washington, D. C. on April 30, 1957. Shown are, from left to right, Robert E. Fellers, Director, Division of Philately, Post Office Department; Abbott Washburn, Deputy Director, United States Information Agency; Franklin R. Bruns, Jr., Curator, Division of Philately and Postal History; H. L. Lindquist, Chairman, National Federation of Stamp Clubs; Sol Glass, President, Bureau Issues Association, Inc.; Summerfeld; Arnold Copeland, President,The Westport Artists, Inc.; Ervine Metzl, President, Society Of Illustrators; William H, Buckley, President, New York Art Directors Club; and L. Rohe Walter, Special Assistant to the postmaster General. The Committee includes representatives of the post office department, the communities of philatelists, and the profession of designers/illustrators. Very brief bio notes for each member were given in an earlier post.

On Nov. 2, 1957, Summerfield made known a list of nine selections for commemorative postage recommended by CSAC to be issued during 1958, one of these being a stamp honoring the International Geophysical year. The stamp was announced in the Postal Bulletin of April 24, 1958. The U.S. ended up issuing a total of 18 commemorative stamps and three airmail stamps in 1958.

Ervine Metzl designed the IGY stamp with an original drawing on which the stamp was based. Metzl, an illustrator who was on the CSAC as a representative of the art and design community, explained that “In the small confines of a postage stamp we have endeavored to picture a man’s wonder at the unknown together with his determination to understand it and his need for Spiritual inspiration to further his knowledge.” He discussed his ideas of effective graphic design in his book The Poster: Its History and Its Art (Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1963, 183 p.). Metzl designed a total of 10 U.S. postage stamps.  

Illustration of Ervine Metzl, from the jacket of his book The Poster: Its History and Its Art 

The U.S. IGY stamp is rather dramatic. Just exactly what does it depict (interview question #3)?

 On to question #3 for my interview:

The U.S. IGY stamp is rather dramatic. Just exactly what does it depict?

Let's look at the stamp again (in quadruple, as a plate block):

Scott 1107 plate block from my collection

Drawing on a previous post, there are two main elements in the stamp image: the outreached hands and the solar surface.

The nearly touching hands are excerpted from The Creation of Adam, a fresco painted ca. 1510 by Michelangelo as part of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in The Vatican. It illustrates the biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God breathes life into Adam.

The postcard from my collection shown below contains an image of The Creation of Adam. The IGY stamp on the card has the cancellation date and place for the FDOI of the stamp, but does not bear the First Day of Issue slogan. 

Postcard FDOI front, with Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, US 182 in my collection

As for the image of the solar surface and solar prominences in the stamp, among the fourteen scientific areas of study for the IGY, #6 was the study of solar activity. The Postal Bulletin dated April 24, 1958, volume 79, issue 20080, states that:

The design of the stamp is based on a photograph of the sun and depicts an area of intense solar activity such as occurs periodically and is among the phenomena being studied during the 18-month long period of the International Geophysical Year.

Ervine Metzl, the designer of the stamp, explained that 'In the small confines of a postage stamp we have endeavored to picture a man's wonder at the unknown together with his determination to understand it and his need for spiritual inspiration to further his knowledge.'

I noted several aspects of Scott 1107 in this post. The orange solar prominences add a nice touch of color. This was the fifth [correction to the original post] U.S. stamp (after Scott 1042 Statue of Liberty, 1094 Old Glory, 1096 Magsaysay, and 1098 whooping cranes) printed using the engravure/intaglio method by the Giori Press, which allowed for simultaneous application of two or three differently colored inks. It was also one of the last three U.S. stamps issued with a 3¢ denomination. The rate for first-class postage had been unchanged since 1932, but went to 4¢ on August 1, 1958. This 26-year period was the longest in U.S. postal history with no rate change.

These days, much attention is given to the integrated teaching of STEM fields - science, technology, engineering, and math. This can be taken a step further to integrate pedagogies and understandings from the humanities/arts, as indicated by the acronym STEAM. Scott 1107 anticipated the STEAM spirit by incorporating imagery derived from both the arts and the sciences to suggest the importance and awesomeness of studying the natural world.

One thing I like about the U.S. stamp design is that it does not focus on national chest thumping. Some other countries' IGY stamps used Antarctic maps to pictorialize their territorial claims, to note historical scientific accomplishments related to the themes of the IGY, or to honor IGY missions carried out by particular countries. The U.S. IGY stamp instead celebrates the general theme of science and the acquisition of knowledge during that period of large-scale international scientific cooperation.

Why am I collecting IGY philatelic items (interview question #2)?

So, continuing from the last post, I want to answer another question for my interviewer. But as they suggested I might want to do, I will alter the question. I am going to modify what my last post indicated would be question #3, and move that up above what had been suggested for question #2.

So I will change the original question #3,

I understand that this stamp is one of your favorites. What is your fascination with this stamp? How did it become one of your favorites?,

to the following:

How did you become interested in the IGY and the collecting of related philatelic items?

This will lead me to basically answer the original question anyway!

In several indirect and more direct ways, my life intersected the IGY. I was born in 1950, the month after the idea for the IGY was hatched over dinner at James Van Allen's house in Silver Spring, MD, and just a few miles away from the location of that soiree. My education was shaped by the emphasis on science education that followed the launching of Sputnik during the IGY. For example, I remember watching Time for Science on WTTG-tv in the Washington, D.C. market during elementary school. It was first broadcast during the IGY in 1958. My summer jobs during college were all in Earth science fields, at the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, the U.S. Weather Bureau, and at the University of Maryland working on electronics packages for rockets investigating the near-space environment. After my B.S. in engineering physics at Cornell University, my first real job was with Fairchild Space & Electronics Co., working on the communications satellites ATS 6.

I eventually received my graduate degrees in geophysics from the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arizona. Two luminaries of the IGY were in my department, Hugh Odishaw and Larry Gould, and Maury Davidson worked for Newmont Mining in Tucson where I had a summer job. In those days, the number of older geoscientists who had links to the IGY was probably not insignificant, although I was mostly unaware of the IGY in those days. After I got my Ph.D., I became the first tenured professor specializing in geophysics at Franklin & Marshall College.

In the early 2000s, being in my early 50s and having a mid-life crisis of sorts, I felt an urge to start collecting something. After some ruminating, I decided to start collecting items related to the IGY. This was an acknowledgment of how the IGY had impacted my childhood, my education, and, and my career in geophysics, but also anticipated the upcoming semi-centennial of the IGY in 2007-08. My collection now consists of hundreds of philatelic items (stamps, covers, etc.), technical and popular books and magazines, and miscellaneous memorabilia. My stamp collection was a more focused revival of a childhood hobby of general stamp collecting, partly relying on family in England, Belgium, the Soviet Union, and Israel, and my mother's work at a publishing firm. I did have a used U.S. IGY stamp (Scott 1107), issued on May 31, 1958, the day after my 8th birthday, in my childhood 1961 Minkus stamp album.

My childhood IGY stamp and Minkus album

Some covers from my collection with the IGY stamp that are in the Mellone catalogs

More on the design of the U.S. IGY stamp in the next post.

Interview questions about the IGY and the U.S. IGY stamp, #1

I was asked if I would be willing to be interviewed about the IGY and the U.S. IGY stamp for a column in a philatelic magazine. I don't want to steal the thunder of the writer or the column by revealing the name until the interview might be published, but the writer agreed that I could answer the questions here as an initial draft, and to double task for the benefit of my blog readers.

The suggested questions are as follows:

1.  In 1958 the United States issued a commemorative stamp for something called the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958). Can you tell our readers what the International Geophysical Year was? 

2.  The issued stamp is rather dramatic. Just exactly what does it depict?

3.  I understand that this stamp is one of your favorites. What is your fascination with this stamp? How did it become one of your favorites?

4.  Can you tell us how this stamp came to be selected for issue by the Post Office Department? 

5.  Do you have any favorite background stories or anecdotes relating to this stamp?

6.  Is there anything else you would like readers of our magazine to know about this stamp?

Today, I will address question #1: what was the International Geophysical Year?

The IGY was often called the largest international cooperative scientific effort in history. It actually lasted for 18 months, from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. Sixty-seven countries officially participated via national committees out of about 90 countries that existed at that time, involving thousands of scientists. This successful transnational effort involved countries with various political allegiances and philosophies in the midst of the Cold War.

The IGY was also the Third International Polar Year (IPY). The First International Polar Year had taken place in 1882-83, the first internationally coordinated effort for polar research. Observers from 11 countries made synoptic (coordinated in time, and with geographic coverage) geophysical measurements at multiple locations in the northern and southern polar regions. The Second IPY took place during 1932–1933, the 50th anniversary of the first IPY. Forty-four countries participated under the auspices of the International Meteorological Organization, which eventually became the World Meteorological Organization. The Third IPY (also the IGY) took place 25 years later. The fourth IPY took place 50 years after that, from 2007–2008, as the most comprehensive campaign ever mounted to explore the Earth's polar regions, with tens of thousands of participants from more than 60 countries (30% of those then existing) involved in over 200 projects.

Lloyd Berkner, a radio engineer and atmospheric physicist, suggested that the Third International Polar Year should be scheduled twenty-five years after the second, instead of after an interval of fifty years. Initial plans for this 3rd IPY took place in April, 1950, at a dinner party at the home of noted space physicist James Van Allen in Silver Spring, Maryland (where I lived from 1968-1972). Sidney Chapman, one of the preeminent geomagnetists of the 20th century, suggested it be called the International Geophysical Year. Berkner argued for an expanded IGY because: technologies developed during World War II would enable improved studies of Antarctica; 1957-58 would be a year of solar maximum, impacting many solar-terrestrial phenomena; and those present at the party would presumably still be alive and able to participate in such an endeavor in 1957-58 but not 25 years later in 1982-83. 

The International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) accordingly broadened the scope from a focus on polar studies to a wider range of geophysical research. More than 70 existing scientific organizations formed national IGY committees. The ICSU established the Special Committee for the International Geophysical Year, better known by its French acronym CSAGI (Comité Spécial de l’Année Géophysique Internationale), to manage the effort. Chapman and Berkner served as president and vice president, respectively, of CSAGI. Atmospheric physicist Joseph Kaplan of UCLA and ionospheric physicist Alan Shapley were chairperson and vice-chairperson, respectively, of the U.S. National Committee for the IGY. Hugh Odishaw of the National Academy of Sciences was the executive secretary of this committee; when I was a graduate student in the College of Earth Sciences at the University of Arizona in the 1970s, Odishaw was the dean.

 A meeting of the Special Committee for the International Geophysical Year, known by its French acronym CSAGI, in Brussels in June 1957, included Vladimir V. Beloussov of the Soviet Union, left, Lloyd V. Berkner of the United States, [Marcel] Nicolet [of Belgium], Jean Coulomb of France, and Sydney Chapman of the United Kingdom (NASA)

There were 14 designated areas for scientific pursuits during the IGY. These areas were:

1. World Days and communications
2. meteorology
3. geomagnetism
4. aurora and airglow
5. ionosphere
6. solar activity
7. cosmic rays
8. longitudes and latitudes
9. glaciology
10. oceanography
11. rockets and satellites
12. seismology
13. gravity
14. nuclear radiation

Among the outstanding accomplishment and by-products of the IGY were:

1. The launching of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, and then Sputnik 2 by the Soviet Union as the first two satellites to orbit the Earth. These missions were planned by the Soviet Union as part of the IGY, but came as a shock to the American public. Laika the dog was the first animal to orbit the Earth via a one-way ticket on Sputnik 2.
   
   
2. The launching of satellites by the United  States, after several embarrassing failures. Explorer 1 became the third artificial Earth satellite, and then Vanguard 1 orbited the Earth as the fourth.
   
   
3. The discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts as a result of Geiger counter measurements made onboard Sputnik 2 and Explorer 1.
   
   
4. The formation of the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958.
   
   
5. The establishment of 28 permanent Antarctic research stations from 1956-58, by 10 countries. The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station was established by the United States as the first permanent station at the South Pole. It is the southernmost point under the jurisdiction of the United States, located on the high plateau of Antarctica at 9,301 feet above sea level. 
   
   
6. The impetus to develop the Antarctic Treaty, signed to regulate international relations regarding Antarctica. It was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, designating the continent as a scientific preserve, establishing freedom of scientific investigation, and banning military activity. The original signatories on Dec. 1, 1959, were the 12 countries active in Antarctica during the IGY. The treaty currently has 56 parties.
   
   
7. The mapping of the mid-ocean ridges on the ocean floors, information that would lead to the confirmation of the theories of sea-floor spreading and plate tectonics in the 1960s.
   
   
8. The establishment of the World Data Center system to safeguard the millions of measurements made (many results of the 2nd IPY were lost as a result of World War II).
   
   
9. The furtherance of science education in the United States. Partly in response to the Soviet development of a hydrogen bomb, the launching of Sputnik, and the existence of the powerful missiles that carried the Sputniks into space, Congress responded with the National Defense Education Act (1958). The NDEA, funded to the tune of 1 billion dollars, focused on scientific and technical education. These reforms were primarily put in the hands of scientists rather than educators. Some of these reforms, like an emphasis on laboratory experiences, persist to the present day.

The IGY symbol (Chapman, 1959), adopted in 1955, shows the Earth partly lit, partly dark, to indicate the influence of the Sun on the Earth. The South Pole is shown, to stress the special attention given to the Antarctic during the IGY. The Earth is also encircled by a satellite in orbit to indicate the intention to launch satellites during the IGY, successfully done by the Soviet Union and by the U.S.

Thanks to Wikipedia for some of the above information.  I have also drawn on previous blog posts as useful.

Below are a few of many available references about the IGY.

Books that may be in your library, or can be purchased via eBay:

1. Walter Sullivan. 1961. Assault on the Unknown: The International Geophysical Year. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1961, 460 p. 

    Walter Sullivan was a prominent journalist and Chief Science Writer for the New York Times. The American Geophysical Union named its science journalism award after Sullivan.

2. J. Tuzo Wilson. 1961. IGY: The Year of the New Moons. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 350 p. 

    J. Tuzo Wilson was Professor of Geophysics at the University of Toronto. During the IGY, he was the president of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. He was co-author of Physics and Geology, a leading textbook of geophysics for two decades.

3. Sydney Chapman. 1959. IGY: Year of Discovery. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 111 p. 

    Sydney Chapman, one of the foremost physicists of the 20th century, was at the meting where the idea of the IGY was conceived, and became President of the Special Committee for the International Geophysical Year.

Online resources include:

4. Wikipedia. The International Geophysical Year, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Geophysical_Year.

5. National Research Council. 1965. Report on the U.S. Program for the International Geophysical Year: July 1, 1957 - December 31, 1958. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26118, https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26118/report-on-the-us-program-for-the-international-geophysical-year.

6. Fae L. Korsmo. 2007. The Genesis of the International Geophysical Year. Physics Today 60 (7), p. 38-43, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2761801, https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/60/7/38/686853/The-Genesis-of-the-International-Geophysical-Year.

7. The International Polar Years. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration,

https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/arctic-zone/ipy.html.