2 - Science Contained

Summary

This chapter opens with a discussion of the Lysenko controversy to illustrate the impact of the early cold war on American science and diplomacy. Foreign policy needs and federal dollars shaped American research, especially physics, ecology, seismology, and geography. Overseas, the United States influenced the three major scientific initiatives of the 1950s: the Atoms for Peace program, the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), and the International Geophysical Year (IGY). Atoms for Peace attempted to rebrand nuclear energy and capture the global market for civilian atomic energy. American interests also shaped CERN and the International Geophysical Year, but the Soviet launch of Sputnik overshadowed other accomplishments and initiated the space race. The United States reorganized its scientific bureaucracy after Sputnik and redoubled diplomatic and intelligence efforts abroad. The 1950s and 1960s were the high-point of superpower scientific rivalry and both the United States and USSR competed to claim the mantle of scientific leadership. American actions included attempts to engage scientists as spies, blocking Soviet efforts to acquire industrial research and maintaining export controls against the Soviet-bloc. At the same time, tensions with France continued, whether over access to American computers, support for French-led scientific cooperation or French satellite programs.