Scientific governance in Britain, 1914–79

Examines the connected histories of how science was governed, and used in governance, in twentieth-century Britain.

Examines the connected histories of how science was governed, and used in governance, in twentieth-century Britain.

Scientific governance in Britain, 1914-79 examines the connected histories of how science was governed, and used in governance, in twentieth-century Britain. During the middle portion of that century, British science grew dramatically in scale, reach and value. These changes were due in no small part to the two world wars and their associated effects, notably post-war reconstruction and the on-going Cold War. As the century went on, there were more scientists - requiring more money to fund their research - occupying ever more niches in industry, academia, military and civil institutions. Combining the latest research on twentieth-century British science with insightful discussion of what it meant to govern - and govern with - science, this volume provides both an invaluable introduction to science in twentieth-century Britain for students and a fresh thematic focus on science and government for researchers interested in the histories of science and governance.This volume features a foreword from Sir John Beddington, UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser 2008-13.

Scientific governance: an introduction - Don Leggett and Charlotte SleighPart I: Governance of science1. Give me a laboratory and I will win you the war: governing science in the Royal Navy - Don Leggett2. Bureaucratic reformism and the cults of Sir Henry Tizard and Operational Research - William Thomas3. The evolving role of the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Cabinet, 1940-71 - James Goodchild4. Mugwumps? The Royal Society and the governance of post-war British science - Jeff Hughes5. The Defence Research Committee, 1963-72 - Jon Agar6. Defence research and genetic engineering: fears and dissociation in the 1970s - Jon Agar and Brian Balmer7. Geological governance: surveying the North Sea in the Cold War - Leucha Veneer8. Doing it for Britain: science and service in oral history with government scientists - Sally Horrocks and Tom LeanPart II: Governance by science9. Geneticists on the farm: agriculture and the all-English loaf - Berris Charnley10. 'Man against disease': the medical left and the lessons of science, 1918-48 - John Stewart11. Science as heterotopia: the British Interplanetary Society before World War II - Charlotte Sleigh12. Governing science on BBC radio in 1930s Britain: religion, eugenics and war - Ralph Desmarais13. Governing the science of selection: the psychological sciences, 1921-45 - Alice White14. Governing for happiness: Mark Abrams, subjective social indicators and the post-war explosion of 'middle-opinion' - Scott Anthony15. Governance through education: Herman Bondi, Karl Popper and the making of scientific citizens - Neil CalverIndex