Shameless plug for Dad's new book

[LMNO]

Posthumously, of course. Before he died, he wrote a couple of chapters for a new book about science policy, or more to the point, about the failures of science policy he witnessed, and some thoughts on how to improve it so that science could be properly funded and sustained through multiple administrations.  After he died, one of his friends complied a handful of lectures he gave while director of Brookhaven National Labs and as Director of OSTP (the Office of Science Technology and Policy) at the White House* which shaped the science budget (and therefore, was functinally also science policy).  The first two written chapters focus on controversies at BNL and the SSC (a failed superconducting collider project), and are a fairly interesting account of the miscommunications and assumptions that fucked things up.  The middle chapters are essentially policy speeches, and were designed for other scientists, rather than a wider audience.  The final chapter are two essays taken from an anthology called The Science of Science Policy, and discuss the need to have a clear scientific approach to devloping and understanding science policy.  It's much more interesting than the speeches, as well.

It's not a book for everyone, but it gives a very rational, non-political look into how science and government interact.



























































*and Science Advisor to GW Bush.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

This seems like a timely book, given the recent politician attacks on science spending. Most of which are made of lies and misdirection.

[LMNO]

Yeah. It also discusses how scientists can no longer rely on the "here's money, build me a big fucking thing" approach (e.g. Manhattan Project, Apollo missions).  This was the big failure of the SSC.