eBook

Arguments that Count

Slayton, Rebecca

2013

Overview

In a rapidly changing world, we rely upon experts to assess the promise and risks of new technology. But how do these experts make sense of a highly uncertain future? In Arguments that Count , Rebecca Slayton offers an important new perspective. Drawing on new historical documents and interviews as well as perspectives in science and technology studies, she provides an original account of how scientists came to terms with the unprecedented threat of nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). She compares how two different professional communities -- physicists and computer scientists -- constructed arguments about the risks of missile defense, and how these arguments changed over time. Slayton shows that our understanding of technological risks is shaped by disciplinary repertoires -- the codified knowledge and mathematical rules that experts use to frame new challenges. And, significantly, a new repertoire can bring long-neglected risks into clear view. In the 1950s, scientists recognized that high-speed computers would be needed to cope with the unprecedented speed of ICBMs. But the nation's elite science advisors had no way to analyze the risks of computers so used physics to assess what they could: radar and missile performance. Only decades later, after establishing computing as a science, were advisors able to analyze authoritatively the risks associated with complex software -- most notably, the risk of a catastrophic failure. As we continue to confront new threats, including that of cyber attack, Slayton offers valuable insight into how different kinds of expertise can limit or expand our capacity to address novel technological risks.

• Publisher: MIT Press,The MIT Press
• Subject: 20th century / 21st century / Aerospace / Ballistic missile defenses / Ballistic missile defenses -- United States -- History / Communication, Networking and Broadcast Technologies / Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems / Computer science / Computer science -- Political aspects -- United States -- History / Computer scientists / Computer scientists -- Political activity -- United States -- History / Computing and Processing / Engineered Materials, Dielectrics and Plasmas / Fields, Waves and Electromagnetics / General Topics for Engineers / History / History of Technology / National security / National security -- United States -- History -- 20th century / National security -- United States -- History -- 21st century / Physicists / Physicists -- Political activity -- United States -- History / Physics / Physics -- Political aspects -- United States -- History / Political activity / Political aspects / Science, Technology & Society / Signal Processing and Analysis / Software engineering / Software engineering -- Political aspects -- United States -- History / Technological complexity / Technological complexity -- Political aspects -- United States -- History / Transportation / United States / United States -- Military policy
• ISBN: 0262019442, 9780262019446