What is the International Geophysical Year?

How and Why Such an Important Initiative Became so Little Known

What is the IGY?

We asked students across campus if they had ever heard of the International Geophysical Year. Click play to see what they had to say.

~ Project Overview ~

This website highlights the 18-month-long global initiative that was the International Geophysical Year. Most people are unaware of the significance of the IGY, a short period of time where countries put aside their geopolitical differences and came together for the sake of science. This project was crucial to the history of science and where we are today as a global community, as there are many technological innovations and positive impacts as well as negative consequences that came from the collaboration. From two cataclysmic world wars to a closely tied space race, the realization that humans had gained the power to annihilate the species deeply affected the human psyche: Oppenheimer said “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”, borrowing from the Bhagavad Gita. From this came a cooperative venture that made Antarctica a major focus for international scientific research, from July 1957 to December 1958, which led to the establishment of over 50 research stations as well as a dramatic increase in knowledge about the continent’s environment. The term “International Geophysical Year” has been used 5321 times in scholarship since 1934, including 22 times in 1957 and 398 times in 2022 (James A. Gibson Library). It is evident that this initiative has become more popular in scholarship over time, however it has yet to reach mainstream audiences as of 2025. The goal of this project is to change that!

Official Emblem of the IGY (Wikimedia).

Japan Postage Stamp, 1957 (Wikimedia).

United States of America Postage Stamp commemorating the IGY (Smithsonian).

IGY Antarctica (Wikimedia).

Definition of the IGY:

From July 1957 to December 1958 an international cooperative scientific program was conducted to study the earth and its environment. Seven years of planning led to coordinated activities in 11 science disciplines by participating scientists in 67 nations during the 18-month effort that began on July 1, 1957, and ended on Dec. 31, 1958 (NASA, 2022).

Map Location: McMurdo Station, the largest U.S research base in Antarctica. Hub for the U.S. Antarctic Program.

Survey Results from Brock University:

A survey sent across the Earth Sciences Department at Brock University was open for one week for undergraduates, graduates, faculty, and others to offer their knowledge on the IGY. The data collected emphasizes that out of the responses, only undergraduates, faculty, and others filled out the survey.

Have you heard of the International Geophysical Year?

________________________________________________

Participants were then asked if they had ever heard of the IGY. The results were surprisingly evenly split, as half of the sample answered yes they had, while the other half answered no they had not. 37.5% of the sample were undergraduates who had no heard of the IGY. 37.5% of the sample were not undergraduates, graduates, or faculty, and had heard of the IGY. The remaining 25% of the sample was faculty, as 12.5% of the sample had heard of the IGY while the other 12.5% had not.

Respondents were then asked to share what they know about the IGY and how they found out about it. Here is what some of them had to say:

"In 1957, dozens of nations from around the globe came together (during the cold war) to cooperate and collaborate and do science. There were a number of different scientific disciplines explored. I learned about it in my undergrad. I think it still impacts us because of what we learned but also that understanding our planet requires a global effort."

"I have seen it referred to in emails, I have no idea what it is all about."

"I have heard about it but I don't remember too much because I was just 3 years old at the time! It was really the beginning of what we would now call Earth system science."

"It was the year that kickstarted the "Space race". Collaboration among the nations during the 'cold war'. Today we continue to have international collaboration in many things related to 'space' (for example Canada has an astronaut in the upcoming Artemis mission!)."

Want to know more? Click here to learn about the origins and goals of the initiative!