Seventh General Assembly of the Association of Terrestrial Magnetism and Electricity at Washington, D.C., September 4–15, 1939

Abstract

The Seventh General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics was held at Washington D.C., September 4–15, 1939. The American Organizing Committee, through its numerous subcommittees, had made adequate preparations for the reception and entertainment of some 800 delegates and guests but, unfortunately, the war in Europe which broke out just before the Assembly convened prevented the attendance of a large number of foreign delegates and guests who had signified their intention of being present at the meetings. However, despite these adverse conditions, there was a total registration of 537 delegates and guests, including 116 from foreign countries, representing over 26 nations; thus the Assembly was one of the largest of the seven so far held. It was greatly regretted that there were no French or Italian delegates at the meetings, although several of the former came to Washington only to be recalled by their Government before the opening of the Assembly.

Early history of sudden commencement investigation and some newly discovered historical facts

“…However, not only Chree but also Gustav Heinrich Angenheister (1878Angenheister ( -1945, Sydney Chapman (1888Chapman ( -1970 and Societas Jesu Reverend Lluís Rodés Campderà (1881-1939 voiced objections against the papers of Bauer and Faris. Angenheister at Apia Observatory in Samoa proclaimed that there did not seem to exist any time differences larger than the observational errors of normal run magnetographs (Angenheister, 1913).…”

“…The next IUGG general assembly was held in Washington, D.C., from 4 to 15 September 1939 (Fleming et al, 1939). The assembly opened just 4 d after Germany's invasion of Poland (the outbreak of World War II).…”

“…From Japan, only three persons Motonori Matuyama (1884-1958), Chūji Tsuboi and Kōji Hidaka (1903-1984 were allowed to join this IUGG Washington general assembly (Geographic Survey Institute of Japan, 1970, p. 551) because Japan's international position was becoming more difficult with the progress of World War II. At the IATME meeting of this IUGG general assembly, periodic surveys of geomagnetism carried out by CMOJ and by the Hydrographic Department of Japan were reported as research activities in Japan during this period, while nothing was referred to in relation to investigation on SC any more (Fleming et al, 1939).…”

“…Guglielmo Marconi was working with long distance communication using radio waves. His experiment of transatlantic communication between Europe and North America in 1901led Arthur Edwin Kennelly (1861-1939) and Oliver Heaviside (1850-1925 to predict the existence of an electrically conductive layer above the ground (now called ionosphere) that could reflect radio waves. In 1910, Bauer, in the USA, presented a propagation hypothesis of SC.…”

Researches in terrestrial magnetism and electricity at Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, for Year April 1939 to March 1940

“…The work of the Department in the fields of terrestrial magnetism and electricity during the year has been characterized by the continued reduction and intensive study of observational data obtained in the field and at the observatories. An outstanding event, in which the Depart ment had a large part, was the Seventh General Triennial Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics at Washington, D. C, September 4-15, 1939. This year has also been marked'by the publication (August 1939) of "Terrestrial magnetism and electricity," which is volume VIII of the "Physics of the Earth" series sponsored by the National Research Council.…”