Dr. Pembroke J. Hart, a retired National Academy of Sciences geophysicist, died at Capital Hospice in Arlington County, Va., on Feb. 6 from stroke complications. He was 79.

Early in his career, Hart served as a staff officer for the U.S. National Committee for the International Geophysical Year. The IGY was a series of global scientific activities spanning from July 1957 to December 1958. Hart acquired several sets of geophysics-themed posters the committee designed for the event. In June 2004, he donated four sets of original 1958 IGY posters to the USGS, who gratefully accepted his generous gift.

The NAS-IGY committee created and published the posters for the “Planet Earth” poster-brochure project as part of its educational outreach plan, which it completed in November 1958. The committee intended the project to excite interest in the geophysical sciences, suggest the unity of man’s knowledge and provide informative narration for students and teachers alike.

The posters are titled "Earth," "Oceans," "Poles," "Weather & Climate," "Sun & Earth," and "Space."

Future generations will now be able to appreciate this period of scientific exploration due in large part to Hart’s preservation of these very rare pieces.

USGS scanned and reprinted the artwork to commence the 2007-2008 International Polar Year, on the 50th anniversary of IGY. The original artwork and the image reproductions are currently on display throughout USGS headquarters in Reston, Va. USGS has also shared the reprinted images with several other federal agencies and colleagues in the geoscience community

Learn more about Pembroke Hart.

See the posters and learn more from the National Academy.