309 



hearing, considerable emphasis was placed by scientists upon the fact 

 that the IGY program was "preeminently national in character and 

 scope." w Dr. Alan T. Waterman, at that tune Director of the National 

 Science Foundation, stated that — 



. . . this Geophysical Year is entirely handled by this country; it is not an 

 internationally pooled effort; the United States has its own program, in keeping 

 with the general plan under which all the nations are participating. 24 



Only a relatively small proportion of IGY funds was spent to 

 finance the international IGY organization: somewhat more than one 

 quarter of a million dollars out of an estimated total expenditure of 

 approximately $2 billion, or slightly more than about 0.01 percent. 35 

 General operating funds were obtained from a number of different 

 sources, as shown in figure 4. Most of these funds were obtained from 

 national and international members of the ICSU, special contribu- 

 tions from participating members and foundations, and from UNESCO. 

 One indication of the popularity of the IGY with national govern- 

 ments was that funding requests by the ICSU were oversubscribed, 

 thus permitting a substantial balance to be carried forward to assist 

 in post-IGY publication of scientific results. 86 



U.S. ORGANIZATION AND FUNDING 



Different countries approached the problem of gaining and ad- 

 ministering funds in different ways. In the United States, a National 

 Committee for the IGY (the USNC) was established by the National 

 Academy of Sciences, which was a member of ICSU. 37 The USNC 

 served as a focus for all U.S. technical panels, geographical com- 

 mittees, and special groups, as well as for a broad cross section of 

 leading American geophysicists. The USNC provided technical 

 guidance for the National Science Foundation, which was responsible 

 for preparation of budget estimates and for obtaining congressional 

 appropriations. Originally questions were raised as to whether NSF 

 possessed the necessary authority to participate in the IGY, but these 

 questions were resolved satisfactorily. 38 



' •» Testimony of Dr. Alan T. Waterman in: U.S., Congress, House, Committee on Appropriations, The 

 Supplemental Appropriation BUI, 1966. Hearing*, Pt. t. 83d Cong., 2d sess., Apr. 27, 1954, p. 901. Subsequently 

 referred to as: House, Supplemental Appropriation Bill, 1966. 



** Testimony In: U.S., Congress, Senate, Committee on Appropriations, The Supplemental Appropriation 

 Bm, 1966, Hearing* on H.R. 9936, 83d Cong., 2d sess., Apr. 28, 1954, p. 551. Subsequently referred to as: 

 Senate. Hearing* on H.R. 99S6. 



* Sidney Chapman, "The International Geophysical Year," .4017 Transaction* XL (June 1959), p. 118. 

 The chief contributors, and the approximate amounts contributed over the period 1955-61, were: the United 

 States, $76,000; the Soviet Union. $45,000: Great Britain, $21,000; and Canada, $10,000. In addition, 

 UNESCO gave $85,000 and the ICSU, $40,000. 



n Wallace W. Atwood, Jr., "The International Geophysical Year in Retrospect," Department of State 

 Bulletin 40 (May 11, 1959), p. 884. 



*> A detailed, comprehensive description of U.S. organisation and funding is given in NAS IOY Program 

 Report, pp. 896-900. 



*• House, Supplemental Appropriation Bill, 1966, p. 937. 



