num_pages: 744
description: A vivid portrait of how Naval oversight shaped American oceanography revealing what difference it makes who pays for science.What difference does it make who pays for science?Some might say none. If scientists seek to discover fundamental truths about the world and they do so in an objective manner using well-established methods then how could it matter whos footing the bill? History however suggests otherwise. In science as elsewhere money is power. Tracing the recent history of oceanography Naomi Oreskes discloses dramatic changes in American ocean science since the Cold War uncovering how and why it changed. Much of it has to do with who pays.After World War II the US military turned to a new uncharted theater of the deep sea. The earth sciencesparticularly physical oceanography and marine geophysicsbecame essential to the US Navy which poured unprecedented money and logistical support into their study. Science on a Mission brings to light how this influx of military funding was both enabling and it resulted in the creation of important domains of knowledge but also significant lasting and consequential domains of ignorance.As Oreskes delves into the role of patronage in the history of science what emerges is a vivid portrait of how naval oversight transformed what we know about the sea. It is a detailed sweeping history that illuminates the ways funding shapes the subject scope and tenor of scientific work and it raises profound questions about the purpose and character of American science. What difference does it make who pays? The short answer a lot.
language: English
title: Science on a Mission: How Military Funding Shaped What We Do and Don’t Know about the Ocean
publisher: University of Chicago Press