Science in the 20th Century and Beyond

by Jon Agar

A compelling history of science from 1900 to the present day, this is the first book to survey modern developments in science during a century of unprecedented change, conflict and uncertainty. The scope is global.

Science's claim to access universal truths about the natural world made it an irresistible resource for industrial empires, ideological programs, and environmental campaigners during this period. Science has been at the heart of twentieth century history - from Einstein's new physics to the Manhattan Project, from eugenics to the Human Genome Project, or from the wonders of penicillin to the promises of biotechnology. For some science would only thrive if autonomous and kept separate from the political world, while for others science was the best guide to a planned and better future. Science was both a routine, if essential, part of an orderly society, and the disruptive source of bewildering transformation.

Jon Agar draws on a wave of recent scholarship that explores science from interdisciplinary perspectives to offer a readable synthesis that will be ideal for anyone curious about the profound place of science in the modern world.

Genres: History, Science, Nonfiction

624 pages, Hardcover

First published March 22, 2011

About the author

Jon Agar is Professor in Science and Technology Studies at University College London. Agar earned his BA in mathematics from the University of Cambridge in 1990 and a Ph.D. in the History of Science from the University fo Kent in 1994. From 1994 to 2001 he directed the UK National Archive for the History of Computing.

Reviews

[David Sogge · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone raised, as I was, to regard science and its wonders on bended knee and to swallow corporate slogans like “better living through chemistry”, this book offers a kind of detoxification. Ranging from bio-technology to The Bomb, big pharma to farming, cybernetics to psychology, the sciences discussed and copiously referenced in this book are shown to be shaped less by intellectual brilliance than by social relations, politico-military agendas and the pursuit of profit. That kind of anchoring clarifies a great deal, whether about pseudo-science driven by Nazi ideology, or genuine science like meteorology & climate research driven by Cold War imperatives. In jargon-free prose, it outlines debates within scientific communities and self-reflection in some of them. Although it occasionally misses opportunities to expand on important matters such as anti-science movements in the USA, or rent-seeking based on intellectual property rights via corrupted politics, this book offers clear windows and solid jumping-off points for further study.

[D.L. Morrese · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry, but although the subject is fascinating, this treatment of it is not. The prose is stiff, verbose, and sometimes sounds like Yoda. If, by some chance, you are able to grasp the point a section is trying to make, it is obfuscated by excruciating detail. I ended up skimming most of it after the first couple of chapters. This may provide a useful reference book, but it's not something to read from cover to cover.

[Cat Springer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am a clear-headed, college educated adult with a searching mind, and I could *not* get past the Introduction. Why do academics take such a fascinating universe, and natter it into submission? I don't doubt that it's exhaustive and rife with authenticity, but hey, I'll wait till the movie.