Synopses & Reviews
In response to Soviet advances in science and engineering education, the countrys top scientists with the support of the federal government in 1956 launched an unprecedented program to reform pre-college science education in the United States. Drawing on a wide range of archival material, John Rudolph traces the origins of two of the leading projects in this movement in high school physics and biology. Rudolph describes how the scientists directing these projects drew on their wartime experiences in weapons development and defense consultation to guide their foray into the field of education and he reveals how the broader social and political conditions of the 1950s Cold War America fundamentally shaped the nature of the course materials they eventually produced.
Review
John L. Rudolph's compact, well-researched volume brings to light the intriguing history.... Jessica Wang
Review
John L. Rudolph's compact, well-researched volume brings to light the intriguingg history....(Jessica Wang,American Historical Review,02/01/2003)
Review
Honorable Mention for the AERA New Scholars Book Award for History of Education
"For those interested in the relations between technology and culture, there is much to appreciate in this book."--Amy C. Crumpton, Technology and Culture
"John L. Rudolph's compact, well-researched volume brings to light the intriguing history. . . ."--Jessica Wang, American Historical Review
"An engaging and refreshingly balanced account of the science-curriculum wars of the 1950s and early 1960s, when Russian rivalry, governmental largess, and scientific hubris led to the unprecedented politicization of science teaching in American schools." --Ronald L. Numbers, Hilldale and William Coleman Professor of the History of Science and Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author of The Creationists
". . . a masterful achievement." --William J. Reese, University of Wisconsin-Madison
". . . absorbing . . . I wish everyone engaged in science curriculum development and those who study the history of curriculum and the history of science would read this book. It provides fresh insights into a complex phenomenon." --Angelo Collins, Executive Director, Knowles Science Teaching Foundation
"In this masterly study he provides a much richer context for understanding the role of science in 20th century American culture. Highly recommended." -- Library Journal
Synopsis
During the 1950s, leading American scientists embarked on an unprecedented project to remake high school science education. Dissatisfaction with the 'soft' school curriculum of the time advocated by the professional education establishment, and concern over the growing technological sophistication of the Soviet Union, led government officials to encourage a handful of elite research scientists, fresh from their World War II successes, to revitalize the nations' science curricula. In Scientists in the Classroom, John L. Rudolph argues that the Cold War environment, long neglected in the history of education literature, is crucial to understanding both the reasons for the public acceptance of scientific authority in the field of education and the nature of the curriculum materials that were eventually produced. Drawing on a wealth of previously untapped resources from government and university archives, Rudolph focuses on the National Science Foundation-supported curriculum projects initiated in 1956. What the historical record reveals, according to Rudolph, is that these materials were designed not just to improve American science education, but to advance the professional interest of the American scientific community in the postwar period as well.
About the Author
John L. Rudolph is Assistant Professor in the school of education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Table of Contents
Introduction * Ideology and Education * The State of Science in America * NSF, Education, and National Security * Wartime Techniques for Cold War Education * PSSC: Engineering Rationality * BSCS: Science and Social Progress * Science/Education Transformed * Politics and the Scientific Image
Introduction * Ideology and Education * The State of Science in America * NSF, Education, and National Security * Wartime Techniques for Cold War Education * PSSC: Engineering Rationality * BSCS: Science and Social Progress * Science/Education Transformed * Politics and the Scientific Image