History and Objectives
URSI was officially created in 1919, during the Constitutive Assembly of the International Research Council (now ICSU), based on the earlier Commission Internationale de Telegraphie sans Fil (1913-1914) when the only radio communication system was radiotelegraphy. It has held a general assembly every three years from 1922. 50 years ago URSI was one of the most important promotors of the International Geophysical Year.
URSI's original objective (to encourage "scientific studies of radiotelegraphy, especially those which require international cooperation") has been broadened to include all radio science, from telecommunications to radio astronomy, acquisition of radar information about distant passive objects, studies of the radiation stimulated or spontaneously emitted by these objects, biological effects of electromagnetic radiation and active modification of objects by radio waves, within the spectrum from extremely low frequency to the optical domain.
Read more about this topic: International Union Of Radio Science
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