Let’s say that this is
question number 1. When Richard Lewontin, a Harvard geneticist, says in (“The
Politics of Science” The new York Review of Books, May 9, 2002) that “The state
of American science and its relation to the American state are the product of
war.” What does he mean?
Title: Question 1 The Politics of Science
What does question 1; “the state of American science and its
relation to the American state are the product of war” mean?
After doing research on this statement it becomes relatively
easy to realize that we all understand what this statement means, but may not
have thought about it.
There is some indication that American science and its
relationship to war date back to the Civil War which may be difficult for those
of us of this generation to understand. Most of us, however, remember our
history lesson concerning the Battle
of Monitor and Merrimack; the first naval battle of iron clad warships.
We all can, however, relate to what has happened during our
lifetime and that in war American devotes resources to science and science
responds with new achievements.
Perhaps if we can successfully conclude the war on terror we
can shift our resources to a war on cancer (a particularly important issue to
my wife) and start a war on Alzheimer’s (a particularly important issue to me
personally); both are lingering problems that will not be resolved by medical
science without a declaration of war!
Sources:
Technologies, Social Media,
and Society : 18e, page 6
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