Committee on the History of Geophysics: A report

Abstract

The AGU Committee on the History of Geophysics (CHG) was created in 1982 following recommendations of an ad hoc committee, and its main task to date has been to promote the preservation and study of the history of geophysics. Toward that goal, it encouraged appointment of an Eos editor for history and later suggested an annual series, “History of Geophysics,” to consist of historyrelated articles from AGU publications. It has started a newsletter, and it has encouraged, sponsored,‐ coordinated, and recorded an increasing number of history talks at AGU meetings.The responsibility for this work has fallen primarily on five CHG officers. The Eos history editor, C. Stewart Gillmor (Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.), solicits and edits history articles, arranges their review by referees, and also selects and edits material for the History of Geophysics series. The newsletter editor, Sam Silverman, single‐handedly (with help from an Osborne PC) produces our newsletter. A meeting coordinator, initially Marty Walt of Lockheed Laboratories (Palo Alto, Calif.) and then (until recently) Pat Taylor of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, Md.), helps arrange, publicize, and record history talks at AGU meetings. The secretary, Jim Heirtzler (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass.) is in charge of minutes of meetings, correspondence, and the mailing of the newsletter. Finally, as chairman, I carry overall responsibility for the activities of CHG, initiate new ventures, and often back up other officers in their tasks.