Bookshelf

| browse books |
books
 

| book details |

Science on a Mission: How Military Funding Shaped What We Do and Don't Know about the Ocean

By (author) Naomi Oreskes





This book is currently unavailable. Enquire to check if we can source a used copy


| book description |

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 who's 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 warfare: the deep sea. The earth sciences--particularly physical oceanography and marine geophysics--became essential to the US navy, who poured unprecedented money and logistical support into their study. Science on a Mission brings to light how the influx of such military funding was both enabling and constricting: 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 in which funding shapes the subject, scope, and tenor of scientific work, and it raises profound questions over the purpose and character of American science. What difference does it make who pays? The short answer is: a lot.

| product details |



Normally shipped | Enquiries only
Publisher | The University of Chicago Press
Published date | 19 Apr 2021
Language |
Format | Hardback
Pages | 744
Dimensions | 229 x 152 x 0mm (L x W x H)
Weight | 0g
ISBN | 978-0-2267-3238-1
Readership Age |
BISAC | science / history


| other options |


| your trolley |

To view the items in your trolley please sign in.

| sign in |

| specials |

Exiles: Times book of the month 'Stanley Kubrick meets MR James'

Mason Coile
Paperback / softback
224 pages
was: R 542.95
now: R 488.95
Forthcoming

A terrifying locked-room mystery set in a remote outpost on Mars.

Broken Country: AMAZON'S BOOK OF THE YEAR - THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER

Clare Leslie Hall
Paperback / softback
320 pages
was: R 395.95
now: R 355.95
Available from overseas. Dispatched in aprox 4-8 weeks as local supplier is out of stock

An epic love story with the pulse of a thriller that asks: what would you risk for a second chance at first love?

Theory & Practice

Michelle de Kretser
Hardback
192 pages
was: R 415.95
now: R 373.95
Available from overseas. Dispatched in aprox 4-8 weeks as local supplier is out of stock


The Correspondent

Virginia Evans
Hardback
288 pages
was: R 495.95
now: R 445.95
Forthcoming