The International Polar Years and the International Geophysical Year represented a remarkable international collaborative scientific effort that has been largely neglected by historians. This groundbreaking collection seeks to redress that neglect and illuminate critical aspects of the last 150 years of international scientific endeavour.

James Rodger Fleming is Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at Colby College and a research associate at Columbia University. He has written extensively on the social, cultural, and intellectual history of weather, climate, technology, and the environment. jfleming@colby.edu

Introduction: 'Rise of a Global Scientific Inquiry: The International Polar and Geophysical Years'; R.D.Launius, D.H.DeVorkin& J.R.Fleming PART I: MEANINGS, INTERPRETATIONS, AND HISTORIOGRAPHY A Polar Perspective; M.A.Dennis Making Science Global? Coordinated Enterprises in Nineteenth-Century Science; M.Rothenberg Publishing Arctic Science in the Nineteenth Century: The Case of the First International Polar Year; P.N.Cronenwett Toward the Poles: A Historiography of Scientific Exploration during the International Polar Years and the International Geophysical Year; R.D.Launius PART II: NATIONAL CASE STUDIES Going Global in Polar Exploration: Nineteenth-Century American and British Nationalism and Peacetime Science; C.Carter Swedish Polar Policies from the First International Polar Year to the Present; L.Lewander The Polar Years and Japan; W.R.Stevenson III China and the International Geophysical Year; Z.Wang& J.Zhang PART III: NETWORKED PERSONALITIES AND PROGRAMS Approaching the Southern Hemisphere: The German Pathway in the Nineteenth Century; C.Lüdecke Sydney Chapman: Dynamo behind the International Geophysical Year; G.A.Good Lloyd Berkner and the International Geophysical Year Proposal in Context: With Some Comments on the Implications for the Comité Spéciale de l'Année Géophysique Internationale, CSAGI, Request for Launching Earth Orbiting Satellites; A.A.Needell Polar and Global Meteorology in the Career of Harry Wexler, 19331962; J.R.Fleming PART IV: NATIONAL ROLES FOR INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE: QUESTS AND QUESTIONS IN THE INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL YEAR Science, Environment, and Sovereignty: The International Geophysical Year in the Antarctic Peninsula; A.Howkins The International Geophysical Year in Antarctica: A Triumph of 'Apolitical' Science, Politics, and Peace; D.Olson Belanger Tracking Diplomacy: The International Geophysical Year and American Scientific and Technical Exchange with East Asia; T.Muir-Harmony Geodesy, Time, and the Markowitz MoonCamera Program: An Interwoven International Geophysical Year Story; S.J.Dick PART V: LEGACIES OF GLOBAL SCIENCE: SPACE SCIENCE, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND EARTH SCIENCE The International Geophysical Year and Planetary Science; E.M.Conway Polar Politics, Historical Narratives, and Saami Prehistory; N.D.Broadbent Stratospheric Ozone Depletion, Greenhouse Gases, since the International Geophysical Year: F. Sherwood Rowland and the Evolution of Earth Science; D.M.Thamattoor