The History of the International Polar Years (IPYs)

This book recounts the International Polar Years of 1882-83, 1932-33, 1957-58 and 2007-08, explaining their political, economic, technical and scientific background, and detailing the benefits of our expanded knowledge of the complexities of the polar regions.

Although international scientific cooperation - particularly in meteorology - was established previous to the first International Polar Year, the IPY-1 (1882-83) is considered to be the first revolutionary step towards an extensive international cooperation in the polar areas for the benefit of science rather than national prestige and territorial gain. This was followed by IPY-2 (1932-33) and IPY-3 - actually the International Geophysical Year (1957-58) - before the crowning effort of IPY-4 (2007-08). The history of these years is recounted here and explains the political, economic, technical and scientific conditions and expectations that laid the basis for each IPY and which gradually expanded both the scope and extent of our understanding of the complexities in polar regions

Represents the history of the IPYs (International Polar Years) Emphasizes the necessity of international collaboration in polar science The first book to give a deep insight into archival material on the first International Polar Years Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext
Cornelia Lüdecke, Dr. habil., ist bei der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Polarforschung Leiterin der Sektion Geschichte der Polarforschung und Privatdozentin für Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften an der Universität Hamburg. Sie ist Vorsitzende der SCAR Action Group on the History of Antarctic Research.

Inhalt
The First Three Polar Years A General Overview.- The International Polar Year 18821883.- The Expeditions of the First International Polar Year.- An Evaluation of the Achievements of the First International Polar Year.- International Cooperation in Antarctica 19011904.- The Second International Polar Year 19321933.- Some IPY-2 Histories.- Achievements of the Second International Polar Year.- Origins of the International Geophysical Year.- The IPY-3: The International Geophysical Year (19571958).- The Achievements of the IGY.- Side-Effects and Traces of the Early IPYs.- International Meteorological and Magnetic Co-operations in Polar Regions.- Why Do We Have a 4th IPY?.