Doctoral Dissertation Research: Harlow Shapely, Cosmography and Culture in 1950s and 1960s America

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The goal of this dissertation research is to achieve an historical understanding of the ways in which religious, cultural, and political meanings were interwoven into astronomer Harlow Shapley's vision of science and view of the cosmos in the formative decades of the Cold War. The study focuses on the activities that dominated the life of Astronomer Harlow Shapley. These include his work in support of international cooperation in science and his involvement with 'science-society' issues, including the problem of the relationship of science to humanistic traditions and to questions of ethics and values. Shapley's postwar activities included the promotion of a vision of science and its role in society that was grounded in astronomy and popularized as a kind of `stellar theology.` His activities provide a rich case study for documenting the reciprocity between scientific thought and wide cultural influences