OVERVIEW
The previous 4 chapters of this unit have brought us to WW II. When historians discuss the arc of 20thc science, this event is usually seen as a deeply-etched dividing point: "science" before is seen as enlarging all out of proportion to how scientific research proceeded during the interwar years. But there are many ways in which the 1920s/1930s through the 1960s is as meaningful a way to divide the century into cohesive blocks of time. One way this can be seen is how speculating about the future and the role of science and technology was a vigorous activity in this earlier period -- the flourishing of science fiction in the pages of pulp paperbacks and magazines grew from a subcultural niche to more widespread notice in the sixties, through college campus hits such as Dune and Stranger in a Strange Land and Hollywood B films and then major studio works such as 2001. Another is the spectacle that fueld scientific expositions and world's fairs, both through the millions who visited these sites, but also learned about the values and narratives inherent in the exhibits about the world of tomorrow through articles in newspapers, newsreels in movie theaters, picture magazine spreads, and other forms of publicity. So before moving on the decades following WW II in the next unit, this portion of the week will look at what fairgoers would find in terms of lessons about the role of science and technology in Americans' lives. Not everyone would agree with everything the sponsors had to say, but these emphases and projections became a major backbeat through which the US projected itself as a modern scientific society, and built up expectations about the place of ordinary citizens within these broader trends. As the motto of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair proclaimed: "Science Finds ---> Technology Applies ---> Man Conforms."

INTRODUCTION TO READINGS AND LEARNING MATERIALS
The reading in our core text provides content and analysis that you will use to build your knowledge base, and that will serve as the basis for your reflective essay that is due at the end of the week. The videos provide background information and context for the lesson and serve as source material for the essay and your pocket exhibit project The questions for your reflective essay are designed to prompt you to assess the material and determine what you find to be most significant and to explain why. The Pocket Exhibit Project allows you to use historical skills to interpret primary source materials, and to create an online site to communicate your research findings.

LIST OF READINGS AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Reading Assignments:

You will be reading Ede & Cormack, Chapters 9 & 10 [these are the basis for Essay #3 due on Friday June 26th]
Professor Pandora's Blog "Petri Dish": "Arrows to Atoms: 1957 and All That"

Learning Activities:

Primary Source Set #4 for Monday's Analyisis Posting [students use the set that fits the category they chose]

Assignments:

Essay #3 is due today.