Science has had a powerful transformative influence on contemporary U.S. cultural, challenging and reshaping traditional social values. In turn, U.S. social and political values have shaped the course of science in ways that have not yet been fully examined. Focusing on the cultural authority of science, this research will combine two traditions of historical research to examine the reciprocal influences of science and culture in the contemporary U.S. One tradition is organizational in character, concentrating on the connections between expert knowledge and the state. The second tradition examines the ways that scientific knowledge itself responds to the cultural context in which it is undertaken. The results of this work will be published in a book, currently under contract with the Cambridge University Press.
