My Sputnik moment
Scientific, political and pop-culture aspects of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) (1957-1958); cue Donald Fagen!
Rob James
November 6, 2025
I was born during the 18-month period of the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958), and as a boy I reveled in the middle of the Space Race—coming into the era after the collective American embarrassment and recriminations over Sputnik 1, but rejoicing through the achievement of Apollo 11. Not all kids felt the same; when U.S. schools in the trail of Sputnik doubled their math and science homework, one boy recalled “it was then and there that I began to hate communism.”
I learned about IGY from a library book and enjoyed the images of the scientists of the world all working together to solve common mysteries and make surprising discoveries. My imagination was fused with the images of the 1964 New York World’s Fair and trips to Tomorrowland at Disneyland. My youthful enthusiasm waned, as launches after Apollo 13 became more routine. But I fondly remembered learning about IGY, retaining what I term
“nostalgia for a time that hasn’t happened yet,
a vision of a future that has already passed.”
I spoke at the International Meeting 2025 (IM2025) for collectors and researchers of slide rules and other historic calculating instruments, held in association with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Museum on October 25, 2025. Given the group’s focus, my topic was “Data Crunching in the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958).” Calculations had to be performed in remote locations, far from the room-sized computers of the day, so computation required ancient instruments like astrolabes, theodolites, logarithm and nautical tables, and above all slide rules. But I could not help myself from going beyond the subject of big data—delving into the broader scientific questions, the geopolitical atmosphere in the heat of the Cold War, and above all the pop-culture aspects. In most general terms, I was and am looking ahead to a time of “spandex jackets, yes for everyone,” as Donald Fagen of Steely Dan fame put it.
I will add to my IGY Tribute Page over time, but for starters I include links to performances of Fagen’s “I.G.Y.” and a video and hard copy of my PowerPoint presentation. My article based on the speech is in progress and will be uploaded. For anyone who is (or wants to become) nostalgic for something that hasn’t happened yet—where is your personal anti-gravity jet-pack?—I believe IGY continues to stand as a shining example of humans doing something right.
So ohne further auf Wiedersehen, here is my IGY Tribute Page with links so far to the song, my speech, and other materials—like the vision of IGY itself, a work in infinite progress.