For better or for worse : the marriage of science and government in the United States / Alfred Mann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mann, Alfred, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science and state--United States--History--20th century.

Science and state.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : 59 halftones, 18 line art

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Columbia University Press, [2000]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The development of an American science establishment-today an amalgam of scientists, engineers, universities, industrial laboratories, and federal science agencies-began early in the twentieth century when the federal government began to invest in a national scientific infrastructure. During World War II this investment swelled to colossal proportions. At present, the yearly federal investment in basic science and technology amounts to about thirty-five billion dollars. How did this complex marriage between science and government occur? How will increasing economic pressures affect its future?In this engaging overview of the science establishment and its relationship with the federal government, renowned physicist Alfred K. Mann details the reasons behind the creation of the four nonmilitary federal science agencies that are responsible for the bulk of this budget and are the principal supporters of scientific research and technology in American universities. Looking into each agency, he elucidates the ways in which decisions were made, whose interests were at stake, and the resulting discoveries, mishaps, and bureaucratic mazes that were constructed in the name of research. Mann interweaves fascinating stories that grew out of the scientific enterprise:• the allies' invention during World War II of the proximity fuse and its tremendous battlefield success, • the first use of blood plasma in World War II field hospitals, • the invention of radar, • strategic policies of the Cold War, • the double helix of DNA, • space explorations and the space missions, • modern global positioning systems (GPS), • satellite surveillance, and• recent declassification of covert operations. Charting the origins and operations of a remarkable collaboration, For Better or for Worse encompasses many of the key scientific discoveries of our time and offers a renewed vision of the future direction of the United States science establishment.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Foreword

PROLOGUE. What Is the Hockey Stick?

Chapter 1. Born in a War

Chapter 2. Climate Science Comes of Age

Chapter 3. Signals in the Noise

Chapter 4. The Making of the Hockey Stick

Chapter 5. The Origins of Denial

Chapter 6. A Candle in the Dark

Chapter 7. In the Line of Fire

Chapter 8. Hockey Stick Goes to Washington

Chapter 9. When You Get Your Picture on the Cover of . . .

Chapter 10. Say It Ain't So, (Smokey) Joe!

Chapter 11. A Tale of Two Reports

Chapter 12. Heads of the Hydra

Chapter 13. The Battle of the Bulge

Chapter 14. Climategate: The Real Story

Chapter 15. Fighting Back

Epilogue

POSTSCRIPT

Glossary

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780231505666

0231505663

OCLC:

51628589