Preprints  

We present the history of why and how a high power radio wave transmitter facility with large antenna arrays which was built in the 1970s in northern Norway to inject radio waves into the auroral ionosphere. The aim was to conduct fundamental research on plasmas, by heating electrons and exciting plasma waves in the ionosphere whereby the effects were measured using a host of other instruments such as incoherent scatter radars, radio receivers and cameras.

The Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann (1888–1993) – known for her 1936 discovery of the Earth's inner core- road to success was difficult and full of challenges. While she herself refused to accept any notion of gender difference ascribed, society at large was less open-minded. Using newly discovered,unpublished historical documents, this article examine to what degree her gender played a decisive role in her graduate and post-graduate experiences.

In this chapter, I discuss the Milankovitch model of ice ages that proposed at the beginnings of twentieth century which is constructed to explain glacial and interglacial periods within the major ice ages. Some previous versions of ice age models were briefly discussed. I presented a bird’s eye view of the scientific collaboration in developing a model; and of the reasons behind the success of the Milankovitch model as well.

EISCAT, the European Incoherent SCATter system, was an advanced research radar system established in northern Scandinavia in the mid-1970s for studies of the aurora and the earth's plasma environment. This paper describes the operation, development, problems and successes of the system during its first two decades, as recalled by its former deputy director.