A Brief History Of Dayside Magnetospheric Physics

Dayside magnetospheric physics has an early history that is closely related to our understanding of the magnetosphere as a whole. The early years of magnetospheric physics are somewhat reminiscent of the gold rush era or the exploration of the American west. Moving into the satellite era, our field had, for the first time, the opportunity to examine in-situ dayside plasma processes to confirm or reject theories, something that neither solar nor astrophysics can do. Since the late 1970s, with better and faster instrumentation, we have been able to develop a detailed understanding of magnetopause and bow shock plasma physics, where transient phenomena play a critical role. This article provides a brief history of these periods of time and how these led into a modern understanding of dayside physics and transient events.