The dark side of science

A historical illustration divided into three parts: a research laboratory from the Manhattan Project era; a pecan branch and agricultural fields representing the knowledge of enslaved people; and medical and legal documents from the era of American eugenics. The illustration does not depict violence or casualties, but the institutions and documents through which scientific power was exerted.

America in Test Tube 6: The Dark Side of Scientific Progress: The Bomb, Eugenics, and Erased Knowledge

  • No comments
Three chapters in American history reveal the complex relationship of science with power: the secrecy and lack of oversight of the Manhattan Project, the erasure of enslaved people's agricultural knowledge, and the use of eugenics to justify forced sterilization and discrimination.
Science website logo
SEARCH