The rise of Boulder as a city of knowledge was sudden and in many ways unexpected. In the 1940s and 1950s, a small Colorado city little known for scientific or intellectual accomplishment became a world-recognized science center as entrepreneurs and members of the local community, including state university representatives, exploited opportunities to advance Sun–Earth connection science. They created what French astrophysicist Jean-Claude Pecker was to call AstroBoulder, and they did it without centralized planning.
The early Cold War presented US physical scientists with not just new opportunities for funding but also new rationales for doing science. With the advent of ballistic missiles, defense officials realized that the upper atmosphere and space were becoming a medium that needed to be better understood; Sun–Earth connection science had an immediate relevance to perceived national needs. Also, the complexities of defense-related research almost demanded the creation of more research establishments.
As evidenced by the...