Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The head of Mississippi State University's history department is co-author of a new book about U.S. policy on science and technology.
Professor Alan I. Marcus co-wrote "The Future is Now: Science and Technology Policy in America since 1950" with Amy Sue Bix, an associate professor of history at Iowa State University.
From the Manhattan Project to biotechnology, the 320-page book published by Humanity Press, a division of Prometheus Books of Amherst, N.Y., examines the effects of science and technology policy on American society.
The authors begin with a look at federal policy prior to creation of the National Science Foundation, which helps coordinate government resources and fund scientific research. They conclude with a study of current issues, including the George W. Bush administration's efforts to combat worldwide terrorism.
In between the two subject areas, "Future" describes how the agendas of various U.S. presidents have determined the country's emphasis on specific areas of science and technology. Rather than tracing the development of a particular policy over a series of administrations, "this book focuses on how a presidential administration is central not only to overall science and technology policy, but also to individual science- and technology-based initiatives," the historians explain in their introduction.
Marcus, who came to MSU in 2005 as department head, is author or editor of nearly a dozen other books, as well as numerous articles. His research interests include the histories of technology, science, medicine, intellectual property, and agriculture.
The University of Cincinnati doctoral graduate currently is working on two projects: cancer research in the Western world after 1870 and the importance of social science to convey an image. The latter explores efforts by former President Bill Clinton's administration to encourage citizens to support federal government actions.