The rise of "Big" science in the post World War II era has brought with it large, expensive instruments and the necessity of team research. The nature and social organization of science have been radically altered. There is much that needs to be learned about the impact of these instruments of big science. Dr. Sullivan's exhaustive study of the growth of radio astronomy, begun under several previous grants from the History and Philosophy of Science Program of the NSF, will certainly provide us with an critical study of one area where the transformation from 'small' to 'big' science has occurred. Dr. Sullivan is investigating the worldwide development of radio and radar astronomy from the first unsuccessful attempts in the 1890's until the explosive growth of the early 1960's. A major source of information has been 250 taped interviews with virtually all of the men and women who shaped the history. Careful study in radio observatory and private archives and libraries around the world has also been undertaken. He has paid special attention to the manner in which radio astronomy grew as a discipline out of radio and radar engineering as well as ionospheric physics, and how it eventually became an accepted part of astronomy itself. Under this grant, Dr. Sullivan will complete the first portion of his study. The completed work will emphasize the intellectual history of the field, the important interaction between science and technology as the field developed, and the characters and motivations of the men and groups who pioneered in the field and subsequently contributed to its growth. This research will carry the study up to 1951. A succeeding volume will carry the research through the 1960's.
