Oscar Buneman and the Early Stages of Research on Cosmic Plasmas ∗ Rita Meyer-Spasche, Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Boltzmannstr. 2 85748 Garching, Germany;
[email protected] Abstract Fundamental knowledge about the cosmos, plasmas, fusion and fission was obtained in the 19th and early 20th centuries - interdisciplinary by astronomers, physicists, electrical engineers, chemists etc, and in close international contact. Most of the international contacts were interrupted by WWII and prohibited by the requirements of military secrecy during the following years of the cold war. In cooperation with other international organisations, especially the newly founded United Nations Organization (UNO), the International Astronomical Union (IAU) played an important role in revitalizing international scientific ex- change. The IAU organized several international conferences on the newly evolv- ing research topic 'Cosmic Physics' which turned out to be very important for this field. Of special importance were the conferences 1949 in Como, 1956 in Stockholm and 1955 & 1958 in Geneva. In a case study we describe the development of the field during the years 1941 to 1960 by following the scientific development of Oscar Buneman (1913-1983), one of the pioneers of cosmic and fusion-oriented plasma physics. Zusammenfassung: Oscar Buneman und die Anf¨angeder Erforschung von Kosmischen Plasmen Grundlegende Erkenntnisse ¨uber den Kosmos, Plasmen, Kernverschmelzung und Kernspaltung wurden im 19-ten und fr¨uhen20-ten Jahrhundert gewonnen - inter- disziplin¨ar(Astronomen, Physiker, Elektrotechniker, Chemiker etc) und in engem internationalem Austausch. Durch den 2. Weltkrieg und den kalten Krieg wur- den die meisten internationalen Kontakte unterbrochen. Es war dann vor allem die International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Or- ganisationen, insbesondere der neugegr¨undetenUNO, die durch eine Reihe von Tagungen ¨uber das gerade entstehende Forschungsgebiet `Kosmische Physik' den internationalen Austausch wiederbelebte.