298 



successfully carried out by scientists. Sixty-seven nations partici- 

 pated, represented by 20,000 to 40,000 scientists and as many volun- 

 teer observers, manning about 4,000 principal stations and an equal 

 number of secondary stations and sites scattered throughout the 

 world from pole to pole. 6 Estimates of the total expense of the under- 

 taking have been as high as $2 billion, including logistical support. 

 Throughout the 18 months of the activity fl scientists generated an 

 unprecedented aura of international cooperation and good will as 

 they attacked the scientific problems while largely avoiding the 

 political ones. Their efforts were hailed variously as "a major turning 



Eoint in history," 7 as opening up "a new era in the history of the 

 uman race," 8 and as having been "the single most significant peace- 

 ful activity of mankind since the renaissance and the Copernican 

 revolution." 9 In view of these assessments by responsible observers, 

 the IGY was an attractive subject for analysis of possible contribu- 

 tions of science to the conduct of international affairs. 



Significantly, the IGY took place at a time of considerable inter- 

 national political distrust and hostility, the period of the so-called 

 cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. It would be 

 naive to suggest that the political tensions of the period had no effect 

 upon the conduct of IG Y scientists or their activities, and equally 

 mistaken to suppose that the IGY brought about fundamental changes 

 in the prevailing pattern of confrontation. The influences of such 

 tensions and confrontation upon international cooperation, however, 

 have been discussed in some detail in previous studies of this series. 10 

 Here, rather, an attempt is made to illuminate the other side of the 

 picture: to show how scientists and political leaders of many countries 

 worked together with a purposefulness and vigor which suggested not 

 only a spirit of adventure and anticipated accomplishment but also, 

 perhaps, a sense of gratitude or relief over the opportunity to cooperate 

 m an undertaking largely removed from the arena of political conflict. 

 It may be that the IGY, representing as it did an island of relative 

 tranquillity in a sea otherwise lashed by violent political storms, has 

 been overpraised and undercriticized. Certainly those who knew it 

 best were most enthusiastic and lavish in their praise, and no record 

 appears to remain of any significant criticisms of their exuberance and 

 optimism. A considerable but unsuccessful effort was made to find 



• U.S., Congress, House, Committee on Appropriations, National Science Foundation, National Academy 

 of Science*, Hearings; Report on the International Geophysical Year, 86th Cong., 1st sess., February 1959, 

 p. 6. Subsequently referred to as NSF-NAS Hearings; IOY Report. From the statement of Dr. Joseph 

 Kaplan, Chairman of the U.S. National Committee for the IQ Y. The 67 nations were: Argentina, Australia, 

 Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Canada, Ceylon, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Chech- 

 oslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, East Africa, Ecuador. Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, 

 German Democratic Republic, German Federal Republic, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, 

 India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel. Italy. Japan, Jugoslavia, Korea (Democratic People's Republic), 

 Malaya, Mexico, Mongolian People's Republic, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, 

 Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal. Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, 

 Switzerland, Taiwan (Academia Slnica), Thailand, Tunisia, Union of South Africa, Union of Soviet 

 Socialist Republics United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam 

 (Democratic Republic), and Vietnam (Republic). (A committee formed by the People's Republic of China 

 In September 1955 withdrew in June 1957). 



• The year actually encompassed 18 months, rather than the calendar 12 months, to accommodate the full 

 period of estimated maximum solar activity. 



» Walter Sullivan, Assault on the Unknown; The International Geophysical Year (New York: McGraw-Hill 

 Book Co., 1961), p. 416. 



• Sidney Chapman, IOY; Year of Discovery , The Story of the International Geophysical Year (Ann Arbor: 

 The University of Michigan Press, 1959), p. 107. 



• NSF-NAS Hearings; IOY Report, p. 17. From the statement of Dr. Hugh Odishaw, Executive Director 

 of the U.S. National Committee for the IOY. 



«• 8ee, in particular, the following: Lenice N. Wu, The Baruch Plan; U.S. Diplomacy Enters the Nuclear 

 Age (August 1972) and Warren H. Donnelly, Commercial Nuclear Power in Europe; The Interaction of 

 American Diplomacy with a New Technology (December 1972). U.8., Congress, House, Committee on Foreign 

 Affairs, Subcommittee on National Security Policy and Scientific Developments, 92d Congress, 2d sess. 

 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office). 



