Overview

Historians of the post-war transformation of science have focused largely on the physical sciences, especially the relation of science to the military funding agencies. In this work, Toby A. Appel brings attention to the National Science Foundation and federal patronage of the biological sciences. Scientists by training, NSF biologists hoped in the 1950s that the new agency would become the federal government's chief patron for basic research in biology, the only agency to fund the entire range of biology - from molecules to natural history museums - for its own sake. Appel traces how this vision emerged and developed over the next two and a half decades, from the activities of NSF's Division of Biological and Medical Sciences, founded in 1952, through the Cold War expansion of the 1950s and 1960s and the constraints of the Vietnam War era, to its reorganization out of existence in 1975. This history of NSF highlights fundamental tensions in science policy that remain relevant today: the pull between basic and applied science; funding individuals versus funding departments or institutions; elitism versus distributive policies of funding; issues of red tape and accountability. In his NSF-funded study, Appel explores how the agency developed, how it worked, and what difference it made in shaping modern biology in the United States. Based on formerly untapped archival sources as well as on interviews of participants, and building upon prior historical literature, the book aims to cover new ground and raise significant issues for further research on post-war biology and on federal funding of science in general.

Full Product Details

Author:   Toby A. Appel (Historical Librarian, Yale University)
Publisher:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Imprint:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 3.00cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.765kg
ISBN:  

9780801863219

ISBN 10:   080186321
Pages:   408
Publication Date:   05 October 2000
Recommended Age:   From 17
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
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Table of Contents

"List of Tables Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction. Envisioning a Federal Patron for Biology Chapter 1. Making a Place for Biology at the ""Endless Frontier,"" 1945–1950 Chapter 2. Fashioning a New Federal Patron for Biology, 1950–1952 Chapter 3. Expanding and Experimenting in the 1950s Chapter 4. Government Relations and Policy-Making in the Cold War Era Chapter 5. Competing Within a Pluralist Federal Funding System, 1952–1963 Chapter 6. Funding Individuals and Institutions in the 1960s: Opportunities and Constraints Chapter 7. Promoting Big Biology: Biotrons, Boats, and National Biological Laboratories Chapter 8. Allocating Resources to a Divided Science: The ""New"" and the ""Old"" in Biology Chapter 9. Forging New Directions After the Golden Age, 1968–1972 Chapter 10. End of an Era, 1972–1975 Appendixes Notes Note of NSF Primary Sources Index"

Reviews

This is one of those rare books that historians and sociologists of science will use for a very long time as a valuable resource... Toby A. Appel's is a compelling and important story, written with a sense of humor and humanity. Annals of Science Appel has done a remarkable job. No subsequent historical work on NSF and the biological sciences can begin without building on the solid foundation she provides in Shaping Biology. -- James E. Strick Science Toby Appel does a thorough, scholarly job of bringing to life... the National Science Foundation. -- James P. Collins Journal of the History of Biology This path-breaking book on the National Science Foundation (NSF) represents the first detailed empirical study of this agency in the making of 'policy' for the life sciences in the United States since 1945. -- Nicolas Rasmussen Politics by Science Based on previously unexamined archival sources, Appel's analysis is clearly presented and well documented. She provides critical policy context for NSF decisions in biology by discussing their elevance to NIH, other federal agencies, and both national and international political events. -- Victoria A. Harden Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences

<p> Based on previously unexamined archival sources, Appel's analysis is clearly presented and well documented. She provides critical policy context for NSF decisions in biology by discussing their elevance to NIH, other federal agencies, and both national and international political events. -- Victoria A. Harden, Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences

Author Information

Toby A. Appel is Historical Librarian with the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, Yale University, and research associate of the Section of History of Medicine.

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