LEADER 03911nam 2200625 a 450 001 9910457453003321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-674-06274-4 024 7 $a10.4159/harvard.9780674062740 035 $a(CKB)2550000000057302 035 $a(OCoLC)758390009 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10504834 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000565772 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11319167 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000565772 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10533666 035 $a(PQKB)10831058 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3300986 035 $a(DE-B1597)178310 035 $a(OCoLC)840440242 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780674062740 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3300986 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10504834 035 $a(OCoLC)923117581 035 $a(EXLCZ)992550000000057302 100 $a20110222d2011 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 12$aA short history of physics in the American century$b[electronic resource] /$fDavid C. Cassidy 210 $aCambridge, Mass. $cHarvard University Press$d2011 215 $a1 online resource (220 p.) 225 1 $aNew histories of science, technology, and medicine 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-674-04936-5 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $aEntering the new century -- American physics comes of age -- Surviving the depression -- The physicists war -- Taming the endless frontier -- The new physics -- Sputnik : action and reaction -- Revising the partnership. 330 $aAs the twentieth century drew to a close, computers, the Internet, and nanotechnology were central to modern American life. Yet the advances in physics underlying these applications are poorly understood and widely underappreciated by U.S. citizens today. In this concise overview, David C. Cassidy sharpens our perspective on modern physics by viewing this foundational science through the lens of America's engagement with the political events of a tumultuous century. American physics first stirred in the 1890's-around the time x-rays and radioactivity were discovered in Germany-with the founding of graduate schools on the German model. Yet American research lagged behind the great European laboratories until highly effective domestic policies, together with the exodus of physicists from fascist countries, brought the nation into the first ranks of world research in the 1930's. The creation of the atomic bomb and radar during World War II ensured lavish government support for particle physics, along with computation, solid-state physics, and military communication. These advances facilitated space exploration and led to the global expansion of the Internet. Well into the 1960's, physicists bolstered the United States' international status, and the nation repaid the favor through massive outlays of federal, military, and philanthropic funding. But gradually America relinquished its postwar commitment to scientific leadership, and the nation found itself struggling to maintain a competitive edge in science education and research. Today, American physicists, relying primarily on industrial funding, must compete with smaller, scrappier nations intent on writing their own brief history of physics in the twenty-first century. 410 0$aNew histories of science, technology, and medicine. 606 $aPhysics$zUnited States$xHistory 606 $aPhysicists$zUnited States 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aPhysics$xHistory. 615 0$aPhysicists 676 $a530.0973/0904 700 $aCassidy$b David C.$f1945-$0539360 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910457453003321 996 $aA short history of physics in the American century$92457246 997 $aUNINA