Using newly declassified documents, this book explores why U.S. military leaders after World War II sought to monitor the far north and understand the physical environment of Greenland, a crucial territory of Denmark. It reveals a fascinating yet little-known realm of Cold War intrigue and a delicate diplomatic duet between a smaller state and a superpower amid a time of intense global pressures. Written by scholars in Denmark and the United States, this book explores many compelling topics. What led to the creation of the U.S. Thule Air Base in Greenland, one of the worlds largest, and why did the U.S. build a nuclear-powered city under Greenlands ice cap? How did Danish concern about sovereignty shape scientific research programs in Greenland? Also explored here: why did Denmarks most famous scientist, Inge Lehmann, became involved in research in Greenland, and what international reverberations resulted from the crash of a U.S. B-52 bomber carrying four nuclear weapons near Thule in January 1968?

Ronald E. Doel is an Associate Professor of History at Florida State University, USA. He focuses on the history of recent science and technology.

Kristine C. Harper is an Associate Professor of History at Florida State University. She focuses on the history of recent science and technology.

Matthias Heymann is an Associate Professor of history of science and technology at Aarhus University, Denmark, where he studies the history of the atmospheric sciences. He served as Project Leader of Exploring Greenland: Science and Technology in Cold War Settings, funded by the Carlsberg Foundation.

.Introduction Exploring Greenlands Secrets: Science, Technology, Diplomacy, and Cold War Planning in Global ContextsRonald E. Doel, Kristine C. Harper, Matthias Heymann.- .Part OneArctic Challenges in the Cold War.- .Chapter 1 Defending the North American Continent: Why the Physical Environmental Sciences Mattered in Cold War GreenlandRonald E. Doel.- .Chapter 2 Small state preoccupations: science and technology in the pursuit of modernization, security, and sovereignty in GreenlandKristian Hvidtfelt Nielsen.- .Part TwoControlling Hostile Environments:Geophysical Research in Greenland.- .Chapter 3 Searching for Control: Weather Stations and Data in the Early Cold WarMatthias Heymann.- .Chapter 4 Security and the nation: Glaciology in Early Cold War GreenlandJanet Martin-Nielsen.- .Chapter 5 Failed Geologies: Danish and American Agendas for the Geological Investigation of Greenland, 1946-1960Christopher JacobRies.- .Chapter 6 Battling the Aurora Borealis: The Transnational Coproduction of Ionospheric Research in Early Cold War GreenlandHenrik Knudsen.- .Chapter 7 Danish Seismic Research in Relation to American Nuclear Detection EffortsAnne Lif Lund Jacobsen.- .Part Three<Entanglement and Transformation:Diplomacy and Politics of Science inGreenland.- .Chapter 8 Camp Century Cold War City under the IceHenry Nielsen and Kristian Hvidtfelt Nielsen.- .Chapter 9 Cold War Greenland as a Space for International Scientific CollaborationHenrik Knudsen.- .Chapter 10 Cold Atoms: The Hunt for Uranium in Greenland in the Late Cold War and Beyond (1970-1989)Henry Nielsen and Henrik Knudsen.-