We were having a discussion, pretty much about nothing, a few days ago and for some reason that I can’t remember, the term “beatnik” came up. We all agreed that we hadn’t heard the term in a long time… Everyone thought it was popular in the late 50s or maybe early 60s, but it seems to have just faded away. I’m pretty sure it became popular in 1957 — now how could I be so sure about something like that? Well, I’ll tell you — I’m pretty sure that in the 50s there was a “Beat Generation” because I remember my parents and relatives calling this new generation thugs, among some of the kinder terms they used. I’m pretty sure the term beatnik was created by adding the Russian suffix ‘nik’ to the word beat. A lot of terms had the suffix nik added to them about then because the Russians had just launched the first artificial Earth satellite — named Sputnik 1. The US and Russia were in a race; it wasn’t really a satellite race, it was a race to design missiles with enough power to deliver nuclear bombs at each other from long distances. It turns out that Russia actually “won” the race with the launch of the first successful intercontinental ballistic missile (the R-7) in the summer of 1957. Not much later, in the fall (October, I think) Sputnik 1 was launched into orbit. The literal translation of ‘Sputnik” is “something that is traveling with a traveler.” In this case, the traveler is the Earth, traveling through space, and the companion traveling with it is the satellite. Very descriptive and thought provoking. My interest was very much oriented toward space in 1957 and I remember hearing the beep-beep-beep sound of Sputnik shortly after it was launched. The frequency of the beeps was easily received by amateur (ham) radio operators — I’m sure that frequency was chosen for propaganda purposes. Actually, the Soviets planned on launching a much larger satellite, but it had fallen behind schedule due to technical difficulties. So, in order to be “first,” they launched Sputnik 1 — it weighed about 180 pounds and wasn’t much more than a radio transmitter with batteries — it didn’t do anything (except beep.) But it did get people’s (and the government’s) attention — it convinced the government, including President Eisenhower, that we had underestimated the effect a Soviet satellite would have on the public and it created a defensive posture by the government and the public called for a revamp to the nation’s science curriculum. And of course it gave a lot of people reason to stare up in the sky… and wonder.
So I’m not sure how or why the subject of beatnik led me to remember my first interest in satellites… but it did.
— 30 —