Science and Spectacle: The Work of Jodrell Bank in Postwar British Culture (Studies in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine Series)

__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. In the late 1950s, crowds massed to see a new spectacular and expensive instrument for British science. The Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope built on the Cheshire plains could be seen for miles around, but was equally visible displayed in documentary film, newspaper reports, and public lectures.
Science and Spectacle relates the construction of the telescope to the politics and culture of postwar 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 postwar careers and a national identity could be built. The Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope was at 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. Spectacle is perhaps more frequently encountered in histories of early modern court culture, theatre, or, following situationist provocateur Guy Debord, the analysis of image-saturated modern societies, than in the history of twentieth century science. This book relates the construction of the telescope to the politics and culture of post-war Britain.