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

这篇论文的研究项目考察了科学家们是如何参与到关于放射性尘埃危害的辩论中，在科学、意识形态和伦理问题上处理争论中必要的不确定性的。政治和公众要求解决关于放射性尘埃危害的争论，这使科学家们处于尴尬的境地。他们被问及的问题在当时或可预见的将来都没有确凿的答案。关于放射性尘埃危害的科学研究基于不完整和不确定的数据。涉及的科学家的众多学科和机构从属关系通过引入许多不同的概念和实验方法，加剧了数据解释的不确定性。这场辩论从头到尾的公开性质，增加了放射性尘埃科学家面临的不确定性。第二次世界大战后许多科学家的“政治化”，以及原子能对美国文化和外交政策的影响，引发了关于科学家在社会中适当角色的辩论。科学家们的分歧不仅在于他们对数据的科学解释，而且还在于他们对如何以及向谁传达他们的解释的意见。放射性尘降物争议是未来围绕核电和全球变暖等环境和健康危害的争议的原型。本项目的资助将用于考察重要科学论文和相关档案文件。

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.