Open AccessHeliophysics: A Field With Its Own Universal Laws?: AGU Chapman Conference on Universal Heliophysical Processes; Savannah, Georgia, 10–14 November 2008
Author(s) -
Crooker Nancy U.,
Galand Marina
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2009eo150005
Subject(s) - analogy , aeronomy , atmosphere (unit) , field (mathematics) , law , universal law , political science , physics , epistemology , meteorology , mathematics , philosophy , pure mathematics
If one might be so bold as to draw an analogy with the “spirit of Copenhagen”—the atmosphere created by Niels Bohr in which a small group of physicists developed the field of quantum mechanics—then the “spirit of Savannah” might describe the atmosphere at the Chapman Conference on Universal Heliophysical Processes, held there in November under the umbrella of the International Heliophysical Year. Whether or not the analogy will hold depends upon whether some subset of the Space Physics and Aeronomy community continues a movement to establish “heliophysics” as a field with universal laws of its own—a project that has become surprisingly controversial. Extensive, lively debate at the conference among researchers in very different fields who otherwise would rarely meet, along with uniformly excellent conference presentations tailored to communicate across disciplines, suggests a positive future for the project.