The Royal Society and Cold War Britain 2013 Jennifer Rose Goodare
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Representing Science in a Divided World: The Royal Society and Cold War Britain A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Life Sciences 2013 Jennifer Rose Goodare 2 Contents Abstract 5 Declaration and copyright statement 6 Acknowledgements 7 Acronyms and abbreviations 8 Officers of the Royal Society and select permanent staff 13 Introduction 16 0.1 What is the Royal Society? Why is it interesting? 17 0.2 20th Century histories of the Society 20 0.3 Historiography 24 0.4 Post-war roles for the Society 27 0.5 Nationalism and internationalism: the paradox 34 of the Society’s post-war position 0.6 Western allies 36 0.7 What counts as ‘the Royal Society’? 38 0.8 The role of lunch and informality 40 0.9 Methods 41 0.10 Exclusions 44 0.11 Summary 45 Chapter 1 The new Jerusalem and the New Atlantis: tradition and progress at the Royal Society, 1939-49 47 1.1 Introduction 47 1.2 ‘Let us face the future’ 48 1.3 Recovering the centre ground 54 1.3.1 Two camps 54 1.3.2 The middle ground? 58 1.3.3 Neutrality and liberal rhetoric 60 1.3.4 Dale’s post-war agenda 65 1.4 History in the making 69 1.4.1 Science for welfare? 70 1.4.2 “Politics in science is the devil!” 74 1.4.3 Lyons’s history 76 1.5 Utopia and dystopia 80 1.5.1 ‘The God that Failed’ 80 1.5.2 A modern utopia? 85 1.5.3 The Lysenko affair 91 1.6 Conclusion 95 1.7 Appendix 96 Chapter 2 The long 1950s: an introspective Society? 1946-64 98 2.1 Introduction: the long 1950s 98 2.2 1946-64: an introspective Society? 100 2.3 The body politic of the Society 104 3 2.3.1 Western allies 104 2.3.2 Fellow-travellers 113 2.4 Nationalism and internationalism: the International Geophysical Year 118 2.5 Empire to Commonwealth 123 2.5.1 Allied co-operation: continuation from a WWII model 123 2.5.2 Retaining influence in the Commonwealth during the Cold War 128 2.5.3 The limitations of Commonwealth 134 2.6 Conclusion 138 Chapter 3 Western allies: affinity to government and proximity to Europe, 1964-72 140 3.1 Introduction 140 3.2 Relations between the Royal Society and the British government 144 3.2.1 A national network for international science and diplomacy 144 3.2.2 The Council for Scientific Policy as a facilitator in the network 148 3.2.3 The Royal Society Science Advisory Group to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 150 3.2.4 The Royal Society and Communist China 156 3.3 The Royal Society European Programme 160 3.3.1 A United Sates of Europe: an agenda across the Government 160 3.3.2 The role of the Royal Society in this agenda 164 3.4 Conclusion 179 3.5 Appendix 181 Chapter 4 A special relationship? The Society takes on the Anglo-American agenda, 1964-71 184 4.1 Introduction: the ‘Aldabra affair’ 185 4.2 Background 187 4.2.1 The scientific significance of Aldabra in the 1960s 187 4.2.2 The strategic significance of Aldabra in the 1960s 189 4.3 The Royal Society: mobilising public opposition 195 4.4 Inside the corridors of power: managing secrecy and marginalising expertise 200 4.4.1 A ‘red herring’ strategy 200 4.4.2 The Nature Conservancy: “God protect us from our friends” 201 4.4.3 The Defence and Overseas Policy Committee 205 4.4.4 Sitting on a secret: the Defence Ministries 208 4.5 Public debate 212 4.6 The eleventh hour 216 4.7 Narratives revisited 222 4.7.1 Narrative 1: ‘Islanders less important than tortoises’ 222 4.7.2 Narrative 2: science less important than politics 226 4.8 The wider picture: the technocratic ideal, a familiar argument? 228 4 4.9 Conclusion 230 Chapter 5 Détente and dissidents, 1966-76 234 5.1 Introduction: the paradox of the détente era 234 5.2 The Prague Spring 235 5.3 Soviet political psychiatry and human rights activism 243 5.4 Ziman’s challenge to the Royal Society 249 5.5 Conclusion 256 5.6 Appendix 257 Conclusion 260 6.1 Overview and further avenues for research 260 6.2 The scientific Left and Right and the course of the Cold War 262 6.3 Fellows, Officers and permanent staff 263 6.4 The balance of power 265 6.5 Final thoughts 266 7.0 Bibliography 267 Word Count: 106,837 5 Abstract This thesis shows that despite the rhetoric of universalism and internationalism used by the Royal Society, especially after the onset of Cold War, its policies and actions in the period 1945-75 remained closely allied to the interests of the British state. More specifically, in its foreign relations the Society mainly operated within a network of Western intergovernmental organisations that were a response to, and operated in similar ways, to Eastern Bloc organisations. While financially dependent on a Parliamentary grant-in-aid, they effectively carved out a role in the sphere of international scientific relations which was built upon an image of independence from the state. Thus, Society Officers and staff were able to mobilise a double-sided discourse of utility to, and independence from, the state. The association between the government of the day and the Society was at its most effective when a consensus existed between like-minded government administrators and Officers of the Society. A culture of collaboration and informal networks allowed them to build relationships and share ideas. The Society was perfectly designed to facilitate this culture, as its Fellows permeated government networks as individuals as much as they did as direct representatives of the Society. The status of Fellows conferred on them eligibility for a variety of positions, both formal and informal, within the elite infrastructure of national life. The thesis also shows that party politics and ideological motivations often prefaced associations between Fellows and like-minded politicians or civil servants, but these associations were principally between economic liberals to the exclusion of far left scientists. However, the Society’s connections with the government were also motivated by reasons beyond party politics. The Society had an overarching aim to preserve the United Kingdom’s position as a scientific ‘Mecca’. In the shifting post-war landscape, in which the country became more dependent on outside help and conscious of its relative decline in economic and political power, the Society looked beyond national borders to stay in the competition. The thesis shows that Officers of the Society responded creatively to the changing geopolitical landscape as old spheres of influence waned, such as the Empire-Commonwealth, and new ones opened up, such as the European Community and the special relationship with America. The Society pursued these new opportunities with patriotic ambition, often prioritising relations that promised scientific rather than political gains, but always within a Western framework. 6 Declaration No portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. Copyright statement i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=487), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses. 7 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisory team and staff at CHSTM for ideas and support, including Mick Worboys, Ian Burney, Jeff Hughes, John Pickstone and Duncan Wilson. I would also like to thank my fellow PhD students for their advice, support, and teabags. Many librarians and archivists were extremely helpful in assisting my research, including the staff at the National Archives, the Royal Geographical Society, the Smithsonian Institution, University of Oxford, University of Glasgow, and the University of East Anglia. I would particularly like to thank the staff at the Royal Society Centre for the History of Science, especially Keith Moore for taking the time to introduce me to the archives and assist with resources, and Peter Collins for his warm encouragement and propensity to share ideas, insight and research methods.