Response # 1 (due in class on Thursday, January 25)
Write brief answers for each question. Use single-space text using Times Roman 12-point font. Do not exceed more than a page-a-half. When you refer to the specific readings, you can identify the source by referring to the page number. You are free to cite/refer to other sources beyond what is assigned.
1. in the blog post by Alex Wellerstein, he describes the 'traditional' and 'revisionist' views on the decision to use the atomic bomb in 1945. He also mentions a 'consensus' view that has emerged more recently. In your own words, summarize the 'consensus' view that Wellerstein advances.
2. The article by Tucker and Alvarez quotes a government report which describes 'the most significant hazard of the Manhattan project.' In your own words, summarize what this 'hazard' is referring to. Based on the information presented here, do you find that scientists and administrators of the Manhattan Project should be held accountable? Or should they excused from guilt because of the importance of the Trinity test?
Response # 2 (due in class on Thursday, February 1)
Write brief answers for each question. Use single-space text using Times Roman 12-point font. Do not exceed more than a page-a-half. When you refer to the specific readings, you can identify the source by referring to the page number. You are free to cite/refer to other sources beyond what is assigned.
1. The article by Michael Gordin on "Lysenkoism" makes a distinction between the Soviet scientist Trofim Lysenko and "Lysenkoism" (which itself has two different versions). In the Western world, the example of Lysenkoism is often advanced to denote the dangers of "political meddling" in science. See here and here, for example. In Gordin's telling, summarize briefly how this interpretation of the Lysenko affair first took hold (see especially from pg. 14). How is the "binary of political/apolitical science" (p. 15) often presented or used in the West that Gordin finds problematic? Explain.
2. Based on what you have read in the book Red Cloud at Dawn by Michael Gordin, what was the role of espionage in the making of the Soviet bomb in 1949? Explain your answer. Find another scholarly source on the making of the Soviet atomic bomb (hint: you could use books or articles by historians such as Paul Josephson, David Holloway, or Alexei Kojevnikov). How does Gordin’s perspective differ (or not) from other historians?
Response # 3 (due in class on Thursday, February 8)
Write brief answers for each question. Use single-space text using Times Roman 12-point font. Do not exceed more than a page-a-half. When you refer to the specific readings, you can identify the source by referring to the page number. You are free to cite/refer to other sources beyond what is assigned.
ONLY ONE QUESTION TODAY
1. The article by David Kaiser entitled "The Atomic Secret in Red Hands?" focuses on the McCarthyist witchhunts in the 1950s against American physicists (including Robert Oppenheimer). Explain why the author thinks that theoretical physicists more than any other type of scientists were so frequently targeted. In one of his arguments, Kaiser introduces the notion of 'tacit knowledge.' How does he define 'tacit knowledge' (Use your own words). What is the relevance of 'tacit knowledge' to the author's narrative about the widespread concern in the 1950s over the possibility that nuclear secrets could be revealed to communist spies by physicists?
Response # 4 (due in class on Thursday, February 15)
Write brief answers for each question. Use single-space text using Times Roman 12-point font. Do not exceed more than a page-a-half. When you refer to the specific readings, you can identify the source by referring to the page number. You are free to cite/refer to other sources beyond what is assigned.
1. Based on both the documentary "Sputnik Mania" and the article "Red Moon Over the Mall," how would you characterize the American public's response to the Soviet Sputnik satellite? Do you think the public response was the result of manipulation by politicians? Or was it a genuine response? To support your answer, provide specific examples from the documentary (with a time stamp) and/or the article by Boyle.
2. The article "Sputnik 50 Years Later" seems to suggest that the back-and-forth between the Soviet and American media in the 1950s might have played an important role in the birth of the Soviet Sputnik satellite. Describe in your own words this back-and-forth between the Soviets and the U.S. that eventually led to the Soviet decision to start a satellite program. (Hint: the Soviet media published an article on space science research in 1955 that was taken notice by the U.S., see p. 533).
EXTRA CREDIT: If you have a grand parent or an older family member who remembers Sputnik, ask them what they remember about it! I would love to hear some interesting anecdotes. (The extra credit will applied to your final grade).
Response # 5 (e-mailed to me as a Word document by class time, 11:30 AM, February 22)
Write brief answers for each question. Use single-space text using Times Roman 12-point font. When you refer to the specific readings, you can identify the source by referring to the page number. You are free to cite/refer to other sources beyond what is assigned.
1. (Slightly long answer required): The reading by Genter ("With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility") focuses on the origins of several Marvel superheroes (the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Iron Man, and Spider-Man). Select two of these and explain in your own words (but drawing on the reading) how certain Cold War tropes, anxieties, and cultural issues were mapped on to these superheroes by their creators, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Why do you think these superheroes appealed to young people in such a deep way that other comic books were unable to do? Add a paragraph on whether you think the appeal of these heroes transcends the Cold War or do you think they are very much products of a particular historical era and therefore can only be appreciated within that context.
2. (Shorter answer for this): Read the very first issue of Fantastic Four published in 1961. What kind of real-world historical tropes, events, or ideas are alluded to in the comic book?
Response # 6 (due in class, Thursday, February 29)
Write an (approximately) 1-page answer for the following question. Use single-space text using Times Roman 12-point font. When you refer to the specific readings, you can identify the source by referring to the page number. You are free to cite/refer to other sources beyond what is assigned.
1. During the Cold War and until the early 1990s, South Africa maintained the racist system of governance called 'apartheid' where the minority white population segregated and subordinated the majority black population through all manner of institutionalized laws. At the same time, South Africa wanted to have a nuclear program and sought to participate in international forums such as the United Nations or through multinational agencies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which controlled nuclear proliferation. As two of the assigned articles (by Hecht and Schofield) show, South Africa was able to participate actively in global nuclear trade and in various international organizations despite having racist laws on the books at home. The article by Hecht deals with how South Africa sought to participate in the international world of nuclear control and trade despite widespread concern over apartheid. The article by Schofield shows that the nation of Israel had deep and ongoing relations to South Africa and had no qualms about collaborating with them. Summarize, in your own words, (a) Why South Africa was able to evade international condemnation of apartheid to actively participate in global nuclear trade and (b) How South Africa and Israel helped each other develop nuclear weapons. Is there any lesson (moral or otherwise) to be learned to these historical episodes?
Response # 7 (due in class, Thursday, March 14)
Use single-space text using Times Roman 12-point font. When you refer to the specific readings, you can identify the source by referring to the page number. You are free to cite/refer to other sources beyond what is assigned.
1. The article by Michael Smith ("Selling the Moon") is a discussion of how the Apollo Moon program was "sold" to the American public. The author introduces the concept of "commodity scientism." Explain in your own words, what he means by this. Then explain how the concept of "technological display" was important to the success of Apollo. Finally, describe the three techniques that were used to sell Apollo ("the helmsman," "unveiling techniques," and "transitivity"). Conclude with some thoughts on whether Smith’s arguments are useful frameworks for explaining the public’s relationship to science & tech as a general rule, i.e., how science/tech are "sold" to us, particularly in the current time. (This answer can be a bit longer than the other one, below)
2. In the article by Siddiqi on "Why the Soviets Lost the Moon Race" on page 33 he writes "While NASA was a centralized top-down system run by the federal government, the Soviet space program acted more like a socialist version of a competitive market." How does this claim--as well as any other information you know about the success of the Apollo program--subvert our expectations of the Cold War as a battle between capitalism and communism? (This answer can be brief)
Response # 8 (due in class, Thursday, April 4)
Use single-space text using Times Roman 12-point font. When you refer to the specific readings, you can identify the source by referring to the page number. You are free to cite/refer to other sources beyond what is assigned.
1. In the article "Medicalizing Reproduction," the author Andrea Tone focuses on two technologies introduced during the Cold War: oral contraceptives and home pregnancy tests. Briefly describe how the widespread use of these two technologies "medicalized" the bodies/health of women. (You may have to think carefully about what it means to be be "medicalized"). Given what is presented in the article, do you believe that medicalization has historically had net advantages or disadvantages (or neither) for women and their health?
2. In the article by Ruth Schwartz Cowan entitled "More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology...," what are the "ironies" being discussed here? Provide specific examples from the article to support your answer. Can you provide an example from your own experience about a current household technology that supports her argument? Do you think household technologies are 'gendered'? Explain your answer.
3. THIS IS A SHORT ANSWER, JUST A FEW SENTENCES or a SHORT PARAGRAPH: Based on the article on the history of the microwave oven, would you say the microwave oven is a "Cold War technology"? This is not just about whether it was created during the Cold War, but whether its creation connects to larger themes of Cold War science and technology that we have discussed in class.
Response # 9 (due in class, Monday, April 15)
Use single-space text using Times Roman 12-point font. When you refer to the specific readings, you can identify the source by referring to the page number. You are free to cite/refer to other sources beyond what is assigned.
1. Mariana Mazzucato is the author of the book The Entrepreneurial State (from which I have assigned one chapter, the one on the Apple iPhone). Briefly describe what the point of the chapter is. What key myth is it trying to dispel? Why do you think these myths persist in our society?
OPTIONAL!!
2. One of the assigned articles is titled 'Why the Arpanet was Built" and is by Stephen J. Lukasik. Based on your own research, write a paragraph about Stephen J. Lukasik, i.e., who he was, his principal and most important achievements, and why we should care about his opinion. Then, based on this article, answer the question "Why the Arpanet was Built."