A New History of the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year

Knowledge of planet Earth as a set of interconnected environmental systems is fundamental to present-day efforts to address global environmental challenges, including climate change. Among the most consequential projects in the history of Earth science was the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year (IGY), a crash program to study the planet through worldwide collaboration. In the midst of the Cold War and global decolonization, tens of thousands of scientists and citizen volunteers from East and West, North and South, crossed political and ideological lines for the IGY. What they discovered shapes much of what we know about our common planetary home today.

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