Article ID: CBB001220840

Information, Education, and Indoctrination: The Federation of American Scientists and Public Communication Strategies in the Atomic Age (2012)

unapi

Immediately following World War II, atomic scientists and their colleagues in other disciplines formed the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) and dedicated themselves to increasing public knowledge about atomic energy and the need for international control. FAS scientists began their campaign with faith in the role a well-informed public could play in a democracy. Recognizing their inexperience in public relations, scientists sought the assistance of social scientists and PR experts to help them communicate their message effectively. Confronting in their advisors' recommendations a radically different conception of how to reach the public, FAS scientists faced a choice: relinquish their cherished self-image as objective experts and embrace techniques of indoctrination, or maintain their focus on informing or educating the public. Examining the Federation's dilemma sheds new light upon the changing motivations and public communication strategies of scientists in post-World War II America.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001220840/

Similar Citations

Article Bodmer, Walter; (2010)
Public Understanding of Science: The BA, the Royal Society and COPUS (/isis/citation/CBB001022761/)

Article Hintz, Norton M.; (2012)
My Life in Nuclear Physics, Photography, and Opera (/isis/citation/CBB001221645/)

Book Juliana Adelman; (2009)
Communities of Science in Nineteenth-Century Ireland (/isis/citation/CBB484642492/)

Book Doing, Park; (2009)
Velvet Revolution at the Synchrotron: Biology, Physics, and Change in Science (/isis/citation/CBB000952121/)

Article Johnston, Sean F.; (2009)
Implanting a Discipline: The Academic Trajectory of Nuclear Engineering in the USA and UK (/isis/citation/CBB000932243/)

Article Julia Harriet Menzel; (2021)
Wilsonian Renormalization in the 1970s: Labor Markets, Geopolitics, and the Rise of a New Theory (/isis/citation/CBB977754516/)

Article John A. Mihelich; Dilshani Sarathchandra; Leontina Hormel; Debbie A. Storrs; Michelle M. Wiest; (2016)
Public Understanding of Science and K-12 STEM Education Outcomes: Effects of Idaho Parents’ Orientation Toward Science on Students’ Attitudes Toward Science (/isis/citation/CBB098269732/)

Book Baracca, Angelo; Renn, Jürgen; Wendt, Helge; (2014)
The History of Physics in Cuba (/isis/citation/CBB001551062/)

Chapter David P.D. Munns; (2020)
The Atom Goes To College”: The Teaching Reactors that Trained the Atomic Age (/isis/citation/CBB336171764/)

Thesis Christensen, Terry M.; (2009)
John Archibald Wheeler: A Study of Mentoring in Modern Physics (/isis/citation/CBB001560756/)

Book Alex Wellerstein; (2021)
Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States (/isis/citation/CBB433725241/)

Article Good, Greg; (2010)
Building the Community of Historians of Physics (/isis/citation/CBB001320781/)

Authors & Contributors
Menzel, Julia Harriet
Seiko Ishihara-Shineha
John A. Mihelich
Debbie A. Storrs
Michelle M. Wiest
Sease, Kasey Marie
Concepts
Physics
Science and society
Scientific communities; interprofessional relations
Atomic, nuclear, and particle physics
Science education and teaching
Public understanding of science
Time Periods
20th century, late
20th century
21st century
19th century
20th century, early
18th century
Places
United States
Great Britain
Midwestern states (U.S.)
Cuba
France
Ireland
Institutions
American Institute of Physics
Niels Bohr Library
Munich. Universität
Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences (Iowa, U.S.)
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (United States)
Royal Society of London
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment