The events of the 20th century can easy be divided into two sections. Those that occurred before the end of World War II and those that occurred after. World War II had far reaching impacts in all aspects of society. The post WWII world was dominated by two global super powers. Some countries emerged from the war with strong economies, while others were bankrupted. The United Nations was formed in the war’s aftermath. Even science was changed by the war. Physics dominated the minds of scientist during war time, but when the war ended biology became the chief scientific discipline and remained there for the latter half of the 20th century. Science both during and after the war was marked by a singular research question that inspired a race between
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During the war many motivating factors were in play. The American nuclear team seemed simply to want to win the war as quickly as possible. This is seen by their massive spending on the Manhattan Project and selection of a target that would have, “the biggest psychological impact” (Targeting Protocols). Heisenberg had different motivations for his work. The first was to protect the young scientist he had around them and keep them safe and off the front lines (Heisenberg, 170). The second was pride. Heisenberg want to show that he was the world’s leading physicist, not Schrodinger (Frayn, 63). More than that he wanted to show that was a German who could solve this problem. Heisenberg may have refused to join the Nazi party, but he had no lack of German pride (Frayn, 42). By inventing a way to utilize atomic energy he would show Germany to be a powerful and important country, regardless of the outcome of the war. After the war motivating factor became much more simplistic—money and fame. Science had become an expensive endeavor requiring even more highly specialized equipment and university laboratories. One needed to produce results in order to keep money coming into the lab. When Watson began working on the structure of DNA his motivation was not just to procure funding but to become famous (Watson, 24). If he could unlock the structure of DNA, he would when a Nobel prize, and …show more content…
Both time periods had a race between two teams on opposite sides of the Atlantic, search for the answer to a singular research question. However, the similarities seem to end there. The science in the two time periods differed in discipline and underlying motivations. The loyalties of the men conducting research after the war were no longer defined by political borders. Loyalties were instead bound to the college at which their research was conducted. Finally, the moral issues surrounding the scientific work changed. During the war countless lives were a stake whereas after the war moral issues arose only due to the hypercompetitive nature of the scientific
During the war many motivating factors were in play. The American nuclear team seemed simply to want to win the war as quickly as possible. This is seen by their massive spending on the Manhattan Project and selection of a target that would have, “the biggest psychological impact” (Targeting Protocols). Heisenberg had different motivations for his work. The first was to protect the young scientist he had around them and keep them safe and off the front lines (Heisenberg, 170). The second was pride. Heisenberg want to show that he was the world’s leading physicist, not Schrodinger (Frayn, 63). More than that he wanted to show that was a German who could solve this problem. Heisenberg may have refused to join the Nazi party, but he had no lack of German pride (Frayn, 42). By inventing a way to utilize atomic energy he would show Germany to be a powerful and important country, regardless of the outcome of the war. After the war motivating factor became much more simplistic—money and fame. Science had become an expensive endeavor requiring even more highly specialized equipment and university laboratories. One needed to produce results in order to keep money coming into the lab. When Watson began working on the structure of DNA his motivation was not just to procure funding but to become famous (Watson, 24). If he could unlock the structure of DNA, he would when a Nobel prize, and …show more content…
Both time periods had a race between two teams on opposite sides of the Atlantic, search for the answer to a singular research question. However, the similarities seem to end there. The science in the two time periods differed in discipline and underlying motivations. The loyalties of the men conducting research after the war were no longer defined by political borders. Loyalties were instead bound to the college at which their research was conducted. Finally, the moral issues surrounding the scientific work changed. During the war countless lives were a stake whereas after the war moral issues arose only due to the hypercompetitive nature of the scientific