Historical Studies In The Physical And Biological Sciences

Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences is a continuing series of volumes comprising articles that elucidate the intellectual and social history of the physical sciences from the eighteenth century to the present. The articles offered in Volume 5 share a common theme: a concern with modern physics and its relation to other scientific disciplines and to its cultural and material context. Originally published in 1975. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The Reader's Guide to the History of Science looks at the literature of science in some 550 entries on individuals (Einstein), institutions and disciplines (Mathematics), general themes (Romantic Science) and central concepts (Paradigm and Fact). The history of science is construed widely to include the history of medicine and technology as is reflected in the range of disciplines from which the international team of 200 contributors are drawn.

To some philosophers, seeking to understand the human condition, technology is a necessary guide. But to think through the complex human phenomenon of technology we must tackle philosophy of science, philosophy of culture, moral issues, comparative civilizational studies, and the economics of specific industrial and military technologies in their historical contexts. The philoso pher wants to grasp the technological factor in this troubled world, even as we see it is only one factor, and that it does not speak openly for itself. Put directly, our human troubles to a considerable extent have been transformed, exaggerated, distorted, even degraded, perhaps transcended, by what engi neers and scientists, entrepreneurs and politicians, have wrought. But our problems are ancient, problems of dominations, struggles, survival, values in conflict, greed and insane sadisms. To get some conceptual light on the social reality which seems immediately to be so complicated, a philosopher will need to learn from the historians of technology. A few years ago, the philosopher Elisabeth Straker concluded that "a his torical philosophy of technology [is required] since history - and history alone - provides all those concepts that form part of the repertoire of the philosoph ical analysis of technology". And she added that this goes far beyond the triviality that like other cultural achievements technology has its historical development. Now historical comprehension is no substitute for a logical methodology in the analysis of technological problems.

This 1993 book explores how the 'critical assembly' of scientists at Los Alamos created the first atomic bombs.

This Encyclopedia examines all aspects of the history of science in the United States, with a special emphasis placed on the historiography of science in America. It can be used by students, general readers, scientists, or anyone interested in the facts relating to the development of science in the United States. Special emphasis is placed in the history of medicine and technology and on the relationship between science and technology and science and medicine.

No professional group in the United States benefited more from World War II than the scientific community. After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, scientists enjoyed unprecedented public visibility and political influence as a new elite whose expertise now seemed critical to America's future. But as the United States grew committed to Cold War conflict with the Soviet Union and the ideology of anticommunism came to dominate American politics, scientists faced an increasingly vigorous regimen of security and loyalty clearances as well as the threat of intrusive investigations by the notorious House Committee on Un-American Activities and other government bodies. This book is the first major study of American scientists' encounters with Cold War anticommunism in the decade after World War II. By examining cases of individual scientists subjected to loyalty and security investigations, the organizational response of the scientific community to political attacks, and the relationships between Cold War ideology and postwar science policy, Jessica Wang demonstrates the stifling effects of anticommunist ideology on the politics of science. She exposes the deep divisions over the Cold War within the scientific community and provides a complex story of hard choices, a community in crisis, and roads not taken.