American Science in an Age of Anxiety

“The powerful implications of [her] arguments make Wang’s book essential reading for historians of science and for students of Cold War politics.” — American Studies

“A richly textured book that makes a valuable contribution to the literature of the period and sheds light on a fascinating and disturbing aspect of the Cold War.” — Canadian Journal of History

“This nuanced, extensively documented study thus adds significantly to our understanding of the shaping of contemporary American science and culture as it details the political processes and encounters within which contemporary American science emerged. . . . A major contribution.” — American Historical Review

“A book that offers profound insight into U.S. science — as well as national and world security — today.” — Chemical and Engineering News

“Informative and eye-opening. . . . Wang’s probing account of these episodes surpasses most others, since she draws on numerous public and private sources, including FBI records she obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Her book is a graphic and disturbing analysis of how scientists became caught up in the octopus-like obsession with loyalty and security that pervaded American life in the early years of the Cold War.” — Nature

“Numerous books have dealt with the deleterious effects the post-World War II ‘red scare’ had on American life, but American Science in an Age of Anxiety is the first to provide a comprehensive history of how it affected scientists and science policy. The book presents a stark, often disturbing picture of lives ruined and principles compromised. . . . A first-rate work of scholarship. . . . [and] a lively, well-written account. It will appeal to scientists and others interested in the history of science and public policy.” — The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

“[Wang’s book is] one of the most important and significant [books] to appear in the last decade in the literature on the history of 20th-century science. . . . A well-researched, judiciously argued and subtle history of the period.” — Physics World

“This book by a brilliant young historian is a breakthrough in our understanding not only of American science and politics during the Cold War, but of the terribly destructive effects zealots have on a nation’s best interests — and especially on the decent people and communities who believe in reason and tolerance.” — Walter LaFeber, Cornell University

“The national security state that emerged at the end of World War II needed scientists to do its bidding. Far more insightfully and comprehensively than previous scholarship, Jessica Wang’s American Science in an Age of Anxiety tells the fascinating, though troubling, story of scientists' resistance and ultimate accommodation to the state under the pressure of nationalistic fervor and red-baiting terror and the promise of unprecedented funding in the early Cold War. It is essential and rewarding reading for anyone wanting to understand the forces that shaped Cold War science, politics, and culture in the United States.” — Peter J. Kuznick, author of Beyond the Laboratory: Scientists as Political Activists in 1930s America