Boston, which fancies itself the Athens of America, was crammed to its Beacon Street attics with scientists: 5,000 members of the Triple-A S (American Association for the Advancement of Science) in convention assembled. There were psychologists, mycologists, physicists, ecologists, and other genera. They jammed hotel lobbies, mystified the indigenous fauna with polysyllabic shop talk.
There were also admirals and generals, whose military money now shapes much U.S. research. To this first A.A.A.S. convention of the Atomic Age, the brass spoke reassuring words, on the social aspects of science. They were talking, they knew, to the men who would win future wars.
The scientists...
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