![]() | In Sputnik''s Shadow: The President''s Science Advisory Committee and Cold War America Subjects: Science and state -- United States -- History -- 20th century; United States. President’s Science Advisory Committee; Sputnik satellites; Cold War; United States -- Politics and government -- 1953–1961; In today's world of rapid advancements in science and technology, we need to scrutinize more than ever the historical forces that shape our perceptions of what these new possibilities can and cannot do for social progress. In Sputnik's Shadow provides a lens to do just that, by tracing the rise and fall of the President's Science Advisory Committee from its ascendance under Eisenhower in the wake of the Soviet launching of Sputnik to its demise during the Nixon years. Members of this committee shared a strong sense of technological skepticism; they were just as inclined to advise the president about what technology couldn't do--for national security, space exploration, arms control, and environmental protection--as about what it could do. Zuoyue Wang is a professor of history at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. |
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