Deep Freeze: The United States, the International Geophysical Year, and the Origins of Antarctica's Age of Science

by Dian Olson Belanger

In Deep Freeze, Dian Olson Belanger tells the story of the pioneers who built viable communities, made vital scientific discoveries, and established Antarctica as a continent dedicated to peace and the pursuit of science, decades after the first explorers planted flags in the ice.

In the tense 1950s, even as the world was locked in the Cold War, U.S. scientists, maintained by the Navy’s Operation Deep Freeze, came together in Antarctica with counterparts from eleven other countries to participate in the International Geophysical Year (IGY). On July 1, 1957, they began systematic, simultaneous scientific observations of the south-polar ice and atmosphere. Their collaborative success over eighteen months inspired the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, which formalized their peaceful pursuit of scientific knowledge. Still building on the achievements of the individuals and distrustful nations thrown together by the IGY from mutually wary military, scientific, and political cultures, science prospers today and peace endures.

The year 2007 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the IGY and the commencement of a new International Polar Year—a compelling moment to review what a singular enterprise accomplished in a troubled time. Belanger draws from interviews, diaries, memoirs, and official records to weave together the first thorough study of the dawn of Antarctica’s scientific age. Deep Freeze offers absorbing reading for those who have ventured onto Antarctic ice and those who dream of it, as well as historians, scientists, and policy makers.

Genres: History

494 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2006

Reviews

[Will Bellais · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dian Belanger went to Antarctica 35 years after I did. When I was at McMurdo there were no women. We lived a very rough life -- made you think of the wild west in the 19th century. Much like Deadwood. In this complete and thoroughly researched book she found my Antarctica -- Operation Deep Freeze Antarctica -- Admiral Tyree's Task Force 43. I was there and lived it. She really brought back all the wonder of "The Ice" and I'm pleased I have this book in my collection -- she even signed it for me.

[leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book instigated my fascination with Antarctica. It is a great, extremely thorough and detailed recounting of the International Geophysical Year 1957-1958 and the resulting establishment of permanent research programs and scientific presence in Antarctica, one of the most extreme environments on the planet.

[Lauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very good, thorough history of the origins of the International Geophysical Year and the Antarctic Treaty. It jumped around between stations, though, and I think I would've preferred a more in-depth look at each station as it developed chronologically. Overall, a worthwhile read about Antarctica when it was truly the last unknown continent.