American Science in an Age of Anxiety: Scientists, Anticommunism, and the Cold War

380 Pages·1999·2.12 MB·English

by  Jessica Wang

American Science in an Age of Anxiety

Jessica Wang
American Science in an Age of Anxiety
Scientists, Anticommunism, and the Cold War
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The University of North Carolina Press
Chapel Hill and London
” 1999 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Set in Baskerville and Meta types
by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Manufactured in the United States of America
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council
on Library Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wang, Jessica.
American science in an age of anxiety: scientists, anticommunism,
and the cold war / Jessica Wang.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-8078-2447-x (alk. paper).(cid:209)isbn 0-8078-4749-6 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Science(cid:209)United States(cid:209)History(cid:209)20th century. 2. Science and state(cid:209)
United States(cid:209)History(cid:209)20th century. I. Title.
q127.u6w36 1999
509.73(cid:209)dc21 98-14441
cip
03 02 01 00 99 5 4 3 2 1
Chapter 1 contains materials previously published in (cid:212)(cid:212)Liberals, the
Progressive Left, and the Political Economy of Postwar American Science:
The National Science Foundation Debate Revisited,(cid:213)(cid:213) Historical Studies in the
Physical and Biological Sciences 26, no. 1 (Fall 1995): 139—66.
Chapter 3 contains materials previously published in
(cid:212)(cid:212)Science, Security, and the Cold War: The Case of E. U. Condon,(cid:213)(cid:213)
Isis 83 (June 1992): 238—69.
To my parents

contents
Acknowledgments, xi
Abbreviations, xiii
Introduction, 1
1. Competing Political Visions for Postwar Science:
Scientists and Science Legislation, 1945—1947, 10
2. Fear, Suspicion, and the Surveillance State:
The fas, huac, and the fbi, 1945—1948, 44
3. Individual Encounters i:
Scientists and aec Security, 1946—1948, 85
4. Individual Encounters ii:
Scientists and huac, 1946—1948, 118
5. Negotiating Security:
The fas, the aec, and the jcae, 1947—1948, 148
6. Responses:
Scientists(cid:213) Associations and Civil Liberties, 1948—1949, 183
7. Drawing the Line: The aec, the National Academy of Sciences,
and the aec Fellowship Program, 1948—1950, 219
8. Consequences: The 1950s and Beyond, 253
Conclusion, 289
Notes, 297
Select Bibliography, 355
Index, 365

illustrations
John A. Simpson delivering congressional testimony,
December 13, 1945, 17
H. H. Goldsmith, Irving Kaplan, Lyle B. Borst, and
W. M. Woodward, November 11, 1945, 19
Vannevar Bush, 1943, 31
Harold C. Urey with Thor(cid:222)n R. Hogness and Arthur Jaffe,
December 6, 1949, 56
A typical selection from the fbi(cid:213)s (cid:222)le on the fas, 63
J. Edgar Hoover, 1948, 79
Eugene Rabinowitch, early 1950s, 93
Harlow Shapley as co-chairman of the
Progressive Citizens of America, March 31, 1947, 124
Edward U. Condon lectures Senators Brien McMahon and
Bourke B. Hickenlooper, November 8, 1945, 134
J. Parnell Thomas, April 22, 1948, 143
Cartoonist F. O. Alexander(cid:213)s rendition of events
at Oak Ridge, May 1948, 171
A. N. Richards, 1947, 187
Maurice Visscher, 1947, 199
Detlev Bronk, 1948, 229
Senator Hickenlooper(cid:213)s (cid:212)(cid:212)incredible mismanagement(cid:213)(cid:213) hearings,
June 6, 1949, 236
Harry Grundfest testifying before Senator McCarthy(cid:213)s
Internal Security Subcommittee, November 25, 1953, 273