Secret Science: Federal Control of American Science and Technology

This book is a plea for scientific openness and free access to information. It demonstrates the futility of scientific secrecy and the weakness of national arguments against open communication. From the restriction of technologically advanced exports, to the classification of research as restricted or secret, to the monitoring (and censoring) of scientific publications and library collections, to the pre-emption by the Pentagon of scientific and technological research, the U.S. federal government has achieved a state of unprecedented control over American science and technology. This, despite the end of the Cold War. Foerstel examines this continuing trend toward the state as chief sponsor, promoter, and supervisor of scientific research and its unsettling ramifications.

Foerstel concludes that scientific secrecy is counterproductive to American interests, particularly in an era when economics has come to define national security. His controversial analysis will be of interest to scientists, historians, and students of government alike.

HERBERT N. FOERSTEL is Head of Branch Libraries and Head of the Engineering & Physical Sciences Library at the University of Maryland. He holds degrees from Hamilton College, Rutgers University, and Johns Hopkins University and is the author of Surveillance in the Stacks: The FBI’s Library Awareness Program (Greenwood, 1991).