1st Edition

Science and Spectacle The Work of Jodrell Bank in Postwar British Culture

By John Agar Copyright 1998

    Science and Spectacle relates the construction of the telescope to the politics and culture of post-war Britain. From radar and atomic weapons, to the Festival of Britain and, later, Harold Wilson's rhetoric of scientific revolution, science formed a cultural resource from which post-war careers and a national identity could be built. The Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope was once a symbol of British science and a much needed prestigious project for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, but it also raised questions regarding the proper role of universities as sites for scientific research.

    Chapter 1 Science in Post-war Britain; Chapter 2 Funding a Spectacle of Science; Chapter 3 ‘A Great Public Spectacle’: Prestige, Position and Power at Jodrell Bank; Chapter 4 Clearing the Air (Waves): Interference and Frequency Allocation for Radio Astronomy; Chapter 5 Clearing the Ground: Bodily Control, the Radio Telescope and its Environment; Chapter 6 Conclusion: a Spectacle of Science;

    Biography

    Jon Agar