Post World War II oceanography: how science and politics in the United States became intertwined during the Cold War

freedom of scientific knowledge in conversation with the historian of science, Naomi Oreskes: why the diversity of research funding says much about the fundamental truths of its findings

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b «American military-industrial complex» IIdOen sdr odbplr iben ebNirdbcebl ib Oyioy poiebliplp n.ribt lyip .dIn 9 r meridn Oere dsleb replr iben lyrd.ty lyeir Odru bn c bim.I len h, b dNer royibt b N, cippidb .bner lye t.ipe ds ciIil r, p.merNipidb 1dIIdOibt 9drIn 9 r 33 lye ; neem pe repe roy treO p odcmreyebpidb ds lye pe bn doe bp O p odbpineren eppebli I ld lye ; 7 N,Sp dhaeoliNep ye repe roy ly l O p .bnerl ueb odboeb lr len db lyree pilep Oyioy odbplil.le lye Ido lidbp 8repuep mrdhep lyrd.tyd.l yer repe roy ;orimmp 9ddnp 2dIe bn 5 cdbl w II ds Oyioy Oere ye NiI, reIi bl .mdb b N, s.bnibt h, lye

p 8Ner ciIIidb ; ndII rp ds lye s.bnibt sdr doe bdtr my, repe roy n.ribt lye .dIn War was funded by the Office of Naval Research, alongside funding from the National Science 1d.bn lidb 3bneen hdly ibplil.lidbp IIdOen sdr b ekm bnen bn rioyer .bnerpl bnibt ds d.r OdrInSp doe bp Oily repe roy ly l pm bben srdc doe b oiro.I lidb ld lye dritibp ds pe basins, plate tectonics, sea floor spreading and beyond – but at what cost?

9yeb 8repuep O p pl.n,ibt p b .bnertr n. le ib lye p repe royerp Oere odbpineribt if and how social constructs could mold the foundations of our scientific knowledge. Today, 8repuep mdpep s.rlyer f.eplidb Oy, nd Oe pl.n, pdce lyibtp bn bdl dlyerp ;ye p ,p

. - emed mystifying to me that people were jumping over this question – if we don’t study something we can’t possibly learn about it» -- rt.ep ly l p ib cdpl ndc ibp cdbe, ef. Ip mdOer , m llerb ly l ndcib lep eNer, dmer lidb eNeb Oyeb lye individuals and institutions seem to be operating well at a first glance. Oreskes articulates ydO lye lleblidbp bn lrebnp ds poiebtific repe roy dsleb II, lyecpeINep Oily OyioyeNer lye rioy iby hil «There are many diseases that mostly affect people living in the poo, , ., - of the world that get little funding, because rich countries aren’t interested in funding diseases that mostly affect poor people. So that becomes a bias in biomedical knowledge, that there are things that affect millions of people on this planet that we don’t study well because nobody is funding it. This becomes an argument for diversity, not just amongst scientists as people, but also diversity in funding sources and diversity in thinking about the different kinds

of motivations that can drive science» 8repuep nebdlep ydO Oe pee repe roy ib II re p heibt sr cen h, inedIdtio I mdpilidbp 2er mreNid.p Odru ib Merchants of Doubt Idduen l lye O , ib Oyioy poiebliplp y Ne Odruen ld dhpo.re yinneb lr.lyp srdc lye esseolp ds ldh ood pcdue ld ipp.ep ds tIdh I O rcibt .drrepmdbnibtI, pye Ipd bdlep lye O , ib Oyioy my rc oe.lio I bn oyecio I odcm biep y Ne odccebnen poieboe ly l nNdo lep sdr y,mdlyelio II, y rcs.I mrdn.olp ib -

In the first chapter, Oreskes observes the weight of political influence in science, specifically ib reI lidb ld b ebNirdbcebl ib Oyioy ,cerio b b lidb Iipc ecertep p m r cd.bl ld lye ib vestigations of science – rather than the expertize and proficiency of the individuals working. Harald Sverdrup, a leading figure in the field of dynamic oceanography from Norway, joined ;orimmp p ireoldr in 1936 and was soon to be confronted with difficulties when members of yip s o.Il, heo ce .bodcsdrl hIe l lye ine ds 7 N, m lrdb te bn ydO ly l od.In sseol lye sd.bn lidb I m.rmdpe ds lyeir repe roy ye rityl Oibt I hdr ldr, poiebliplp .bner ;Ner nr.mSp Oibt ebip 5 1dk bn .I .ne 0 4d eII r ipen lyeir f. Icp Oyeb remrepebl liNe ds lye 7 N,Sp .re . ds ;yimp o ce ld ye n .biNerpil, mrdaeol 8repuep Orilep . , ponents of military funding of academic research, ZoBell’s opposition was based on a commitment to academic freedom and concerns over the twin threats of secrecy and state control»

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,p 8repuep ekmIdrep ldO rnp lye ebn ds yer hddu ib peolidb lilIen The Context of Motiva

. , political beliefs have historically constructed scientific intentions. She bdlep ydO poieb liplp ib lye ;dNiel bidb heIieNen ib lye dritibp ds ni Ieolio I c leri Iipc w myiIdpdmy, ne NeIdmen srdc lye Orilibtp ds 4 rI 6 rk bn 1rienrioy 0bteIp ,uib ld lye O , ib Oyioy .yibepe poiebliplp y Ne heeb ubdOb ld ndml 6 d 4e dbtSp lyibuibt .pibt poieboe ld t.ine mdIio, c uibt bn tdNerbcebl mriboimIep 8repuep p ,p you’re never going to be completely free of politics and ideology in any human activity. The idea that a person could ever expunge . perspective, their values, their biases; that’s just not a realistic expectation. We are not robots, and we don’t want to be robots» ye pldriep ds ibniNin. Ip bn midbeerp ib lye hddu re I rteI, Oyile bn c Ie w a testament to the fact that much research across fields still exists ib b eoyd oy cher ds Ndioep ly l ndepbSl remrepebl d.r niNerpe pdoieliep 8repuep odbo.rp

one potential critique of the science conducted during the Cold War is that it wasn’t diverse. It was mostly white men, and it was - not diverse in terms of funding – almost all the funding was coming from the U.S. Navy which did lead to significant ignorance» ;ye odblib.ep

ne of the lessons in the story of ;oieboe db 6ippidb is that it’s bad to put all of your eggs in one basket; if all your science is being funded by a singular funder, then you do have this risk of creating blind spots because the funder may not be interested in certain things

– t doesn’t mean the funder is evil or bad, the things the funder is interested in may be totally legitimate».

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x p 9 ii 6 c c p 6 p c p s sc c . ep c i , ceanographers in the late twentieth century constructed reliable knowledge about the ocean as a physical medium through which sound and submarines might travel, but they also constructed substantial ignorance about the ocean as an abode of life» . ii pci e c , xnhi si e i tp 9 p n 6 t ni 6 9 6 p t n i i c x 6 c p s6 pic 6 6 c tp t pc i c e c pi 6 os ic 6 ci c 9t p csp 6i cn i 6 cn 6 c e n c 9 x i t ni n i 6 e s6 s6 pic 6 6 x 6 sp c 6 6 6 i x p p i 6 p t n c e p i i 6 i g «we did learn things about the ocean, but, at the same time, of the ocean as a theatre of warfare led to a giant neglect of biological questions»

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p i i vt p i c 9t c 6i c i t p 6 e c 6 it ci p c n , xn 6x ic9 6c ic t s si c n «We now have a crisis in the world oceans: massive destruction of fisheries, of ecosystems, of mangrove swamps and of coastal regions. Damage has been done and, in many cases, we don’t even have the tools to try and fix it because we lack the basic scientific knowledge that we would need to do it right»

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6 p t pi 6 x p t i c x x e c . , xn i c p it 6i p p i i ep c i e c , xn 6 x p 9t c i 6c ichi t ic 9 p 9 6 c p c i c 6c ptp c c p e6 c , ce c ic 6 6 i 9 c 6 pp e9 6 , xn c c i c 66 c p s c c c , xn 6 c istt pc c i 6 g p e c sc c p istt pc e e s 6hc x c 6 e c c e c p p 6c c n p i i ep c i , confluence of interest meant that a good deal of work that the Navy supported, was intended to answer questions about the natural world». is ici c c p i 6 c cpsic 6 c nhi e p c 6 i 9 p c 6 just scientific c 6 6 9 c ical foundations. The pandemic has exemplified how science can aid us 6 p c 6 9 p t s e p sic i c i 9 p c 6 e p os p 6 sp cc cs i c e p i 9 c

6 6 c 6c vc x p i i is ici c c c s e 6 i 6 c c p 9t 6 6ci x c p t c «Science alone is not going to solve it because even now that we have these effective vaccines, we also have quite a few people who don’t want to get them and so for that – the cultural and sociological aspect of the problem – we other resources»