Dissertation Research: STS: Necessary Uncertainty: The Scientific Controversy over Fallout Hazards in the United States, 1954-1963

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Abstract

This dissertation research project examines how scientists involved in the debate over fallout hazards managed the necessary uncertainties in the scientific, ideological, and ethical issues of the controversy. Political and public demands for a resolution to the debate over fallout hazards placed scientists in an uncomfortable position. They were asked questions for which they had no conclusive answers then or in the foreseeable future. Scientific research on fallout hazards rested on incomplete and inconclusive data. The multitude of disciplinary and institutional affiliations of the scientists involved exacerbated uncertainties in the interpretation of the data by introducing numerous different conceptual and experimental approaches. The start-to-finish public nature of the debate added to the uncertainties that confronted fallout scientists. The "politicalization" of many scientists after World War 11, as well as the impact of atomic energy on American culture and foreign policy, gave rise to debate over the proper role of the scientist in society. Scientists differed not only in their scientific interpretation of the data, but also in their opinions on how and to whom their interpretations should be communicated. The fallout controversy was a prototype of future controversies over environmental and health hazards such as nuclear power and global warming. Support for this project will fund trips to examine key scientific papers and archival documents related to them.