important names Flashcards
Who is Robert Oppenheimer?
Theoretical Physicist
Worked with the military to produce weapons in WWII
Leader of the Manhattan Project
Lost security clearance due to arguments against atomic bomb
Who was Edward Teller?
Anti-Communist
A proponent of the hydrogen bomb
Worked with the military closely
Who is Vannevar Bush?
Head of Office of Scientific Research and Development
Argued that scientists should pursue basic research
Science-The Endless Frontier
What is the Manhattan Project?
Goal to create the first atomic bomb
Super secret organization/project
What is the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)?
Created as a civilian agency that would focus on matters of interest to the military
Quasi-military agency
What is the General Advisory Committee (GAC)?
A group of scientists that could only advise the AEC and not implement any decisions
What is the Office of Naval Research (ONR)?
A research agency for the navy
Fedreally funded
Funded a huge bulk of the basic research at the time
What is the National Science Foundation (NSF)?
An independent agency of the U.S. government that promotes the advancement of science and engineering
What was SAGE?
Semi-automatic ground environment
“Direction centers” would display aggregated, real-time radar data from 23 defense sectors
Notify the Air Force where and when to send interceptor planes
What was Project Whirlwind?
An experimental digital computer built at the Lincoln Laboratory
Processed data in real-time to create a full-scale computerized national air defense network
What was Sputnik?
The launch of a Soviet Union satellite orbiting the Earth
Threw the US into a panic!
What does “big science” mean?
Represents large, expensive, and elaborate scientific research
Large teams of scientists
EX: Particle accelerators
What was E.O. Lawrence’s Radiation Laboratory at UC Berkeley?
Massive size, interdisciplinarity, budget, and operating structure
Invented cyclotron
What was the perspective of H. Bentley Glass?
Believed that only scientific experts like himself could advise the public
Elitist mindset
What was the perspective of Linus Pauling?
Believed that all scientists had a moral obligation to protest irresponsible use of destructive technologies
What was the perspective of the Committee for Nuclear Information?
Believed in citizen activism
Citizens had the right and the responsibility to make decisions about science policy
What was the Mansfield Amendment?
DOD funds would only be spent when there was a direct relationship to a specific military function
Who were the JASONS?
A secret collective of physicists who provided advice to the Pentagon
Electromagnetic field
Had no scientific responsibility
What was Project Hindsight?
A report that stated that there was no immediate examples that showed the benefit of investing in basic research
What is “establishment science”?
It was the research and creation of technologies that aimed to only benefit the military and the government
What is a “People’s Science”?
A scientific project to create an organization of scientists that will focus on research that will directly affect the people and society rather than the military
What was the research of Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen?
Splicing DNA and creating rDNA technology
Innovated and popularized the science of genetic engineering
What is Genentech?
Boyer and Swanson founded the company in 1976
Took advantage of venture capital investing in genetic engineering firms
What was the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)?
“Star Wars”
It was a defense oriented plan that was to create a lasar defense against potential nuclear weapons
Experts were shut out of planning process
