Science Technology and War

From submarines to atomic weapons, mustard gas to Agent Orange, military technology has had profound impacts on scientific understandings of the natural world. In this course, we will explore how changes in military science and technology have expanded and transformed the “battlefield” at different historical moments. This course provides an overview of the history of science, technology and war with a focus on the 20th century United States and asks how modern warfare and its technologies have relied on, impacted, and been transformed themselves by natural resources and environments. Topics will include the development of chemical weapons and pesticides, the battlefield of the sea in submarine warfare, the global journey of uranium for the Manhattan Project, and more.