|
|
History of Geophysics CommitteeAmerican Geophysical Union |
HGC last met on December 12 at the 2007 Joint Assembly in San Francisco. CA. The Committee will meet next during the AGU Spring 2008 meeting, May 27-30, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Bill Carter presented a talk on the history of space geodesy - "Space Age Geodesy: Global Earth Observations of Ever Increasing Resolution and Accuracy" Paper U31D-04, abstract 10191. The session was held on Wednesday, December 12, AMS Room 303, starting at 8:45.
Jim Fleming also presented at the Fall meeting in a session on Geoengineering: ""On the Possibilities of Climate Control" in 1962: Harry Wexler on Geoengineering and Ozone Destruction." Paper GC52A-01. [Click for abstract.]
Thanks to support from AGU members who checked the 'Fund-a-Fellow' box when renewing their membership, and from several generous donors, the AGU will soon announce its first competition for a predoctoral fellowship on the history of the earth sciences. Further information will be posted here and distributed to scientific and history listservs and job-postings.
Did you participate in the first International Geophysical Year? The IGY "Gold" Club would like to hear from you. The "Gold" history initiative
is an important component of the 2007 International Heliophysical
Year and aims to preserve the history and memory of IGY 1957 and to recognize its planners and participants.
Donations of photos, letters, and archival materials are especially welcome.
past announcements
The History of Geophysics Committee (HGC) fosters an ongoing interest in the history of geophysics and unites the various Sections within the American Geophysical Union. HGC is also charged with building interdisciplinary interaction, and educating AGU members about the nature and importance of the problems and issues in the history of geophysics--and its relevance to contemporary policy. The Committee includes members from each of the AGU Sections, as well as historians and librarians with an interest in the Earth and space sciences.
The HGC maintains a continuing review of AGU's existing history programs such as articles, book reviews, and news items in Eos related to the history of geophysics and obituaries of notable AGU members; the publication of studies on the history of geophysics; and coordination of interest in the history of geophysics among appropriate organizations. The HGC also works with program committees for AGU meetings to develop special sessions that advance the history of geophysics and maintains productive working relationships with other national and international scientific organizations.
The HGC members invite you to participate in this vital activity. If you have something to contribute,
if you want to become actively engaged, or even in you just want to learn more about our activities, please contact
HGC Chair Ron Doel.
About our Chair ...
 |
Ron Doel is Associate Professor of History of Science at Oregon State University, where he holds a joint appointment in the Program in History of Science in the Department of History and in the Department of Geosciences. His research includes the physical environmental sciences in the twentieth century, and he is currently writing a book on Maurice Ewing and the rise of Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory during the early cold war. In 1996 he published Solar System Astronomy in America (Cambridge University Press). Co-author with Naomi Oreskes of "Chemistry and Physics of the Earth," in The Cambridge History of Science, Vol. 5, The Modern Physical and Mathematical Sciences (Mary Jo Nye, ed.) (2002), his recent articles include ""Extending Modern Cartography to the Ocean Depths: Military Patronage, Cold War Priorities, and the Heezen-Tharp Mapping Project, 1952-1959" (with Tanya J. Levin and Mason K. Marker), Journal of Historical Geographyi (2006) and "Prometheus Unleashed: Science as a Diplomatic Weapon in the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration" (with Kristine C. Harper), Osiris 21 (2006). His most recent book, co-edited with Thomas Söderqvist, is The Historiography of Contemporary Science, Technology, and Medicine: Writing Recent Science (Routledge, 2006). |
About our Associate Chair ...
 |
Tom Bogdan is a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research [NCAR]'s High Altitude Observatory [HAO], and is Director of the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado. He came to NCAR as an HAO postdoctoral fellow in 1983 and was promoted to a Senior Scientist in 1993. His research interests involve the magnetohydrodynamic aspects of highly conducting plasmas that make up the sun, the heliosphere and the intergalactic medium. A major focus of his studies is the coupling and propagation of waves in magnetized atmospheres and their utility for the remote sensing of physical conditions and processes in astrophysical and heliospheric plasmas. He is actively researching a history of Walter Orr Roberts and the High Altitude Observatory in the context of the shifting support and public awareness of the space and atmospheric sciences in the middle of the 20th Century. He will become Chair of the History Committee in June 2008. |
A mailing list has been created to bring together scientists interested in the history of the geosciences. This committee cuts across all the AGU sections. Please join your colleagues by sending a message with your name and e-mail address to the History of Geophysics Chair.
¶ To learn more about the Committee or to become involved in HGC activities, please contact:
Ronald E. Doel, HGC Chair 2002-08
Department of Geosciences, 104 Wilkinson Hall
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331
doelr <at> geo.oregonstate.edu
¶ Proposals for Eos articles on the history of geophysics are welcome.
Our long-term Corresponding Editor for History, William E. Carter, has retired.
Prospective authors on historical topics are invited to contact Barbara T. Richman, Executive Editor of EOS, at brichman <at> agu.org
¶ Please direct comments or suggestions on our web site to the History Committee chair.