Robert V. Bruce (1923–2008)

In The Launching of Modern American Science, 1846-1876, Robert V. Bruce argues that, prior to the mid-nineteenth century, “the scientific pursuit had for the most part been a small-scale, spare-time indulgence of individual curiosity” (pg. 3). The rise of modern, organized science required financial support, the ability to organize laborers toward the scientists’ goals, and managers to oversee those goals. Bruce writes, “Scientific education was lengthened and specialized by means of scientific schools, graduate education, and the modern university. These institutions in turn gave scientists a livelihood. Scientists learned to proselytize the public, and support by both private philanthropy and public agencies not only assumed a new scale but also developed new institutional patterns” (pg. 4). Further, Bruce argues that, in the mid-nineteenth century, “The professional scientist was looked down on by most Americans. Since the beginning of the century, the public had viewed him as lacking interest and ability in practical affairs, and in the 1850s scientists complained that polite society accorded high status to material success but not to intellectual attainments” (pg. 81).
In the military, Bruce argues that the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers “acted as a clearinghouse and general staff for the great scientific reconnaissance of the trans-Mississippi West” (pg. 51). West Point “amounted to the first American engineering school” (pg. 51). Even in the 1840s, “West Pointers had the best engineering education then available, making them scientific technologists first, military men second” (pg. 157). Despite these early advances, Bruce argues that West Point’s zenith for engineering education occurred in the 1830s and, by 1860, the college served national defense above engineering (pg. 160). Describing the Civil War, Bruce writes, “Lincoln screened many weapons proposals by civilians and arranged tests of those he deemed promising, often attending himself” (pg. 307).… (más)