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Overview
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.
Synopsis
"Foerstel argues convincingly that federal control of science and technology is both a serious threat to democracy and a profoundly ineffective way to organize the scientific enterprise." Booklist "Required reading for anyone concerned with continued abuses of power by the military-industrial complex." Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly
This discussion of what is perhaps the government's most intransigent First Amendment dilemma--whether science is protected as free speech--seems weak and unfocused compared to the consequences of the problem. Skirting the larger legal issue, Foerstel ( Surveillance in the Stacks ) dissects a few test cases, such as those challenging the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, to give a very rough sketch of the constitutional conflict between national security and the nature of science. An examination of industrial espionage and the government's role in protecting ``proprietary information'' cites recent business and government transactions with foreign businesses and goverments. Ultimately, lack of structure and the short focal length of Foerstel's view severely limit the reader's grasp of this complicated topic. (Apr.)