UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Science, Technology, and Know-How: Exploitation of German Science and the Challenges of Technology Transfer in the Postwar World Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3w65f1hm Author O'Reagan, Douglas Michael Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Science, Technology, and Know-How: Exploitation of German Science and the Challenges of Technology Transfer in the Postwar World By Douglas Michael O'Reagan A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Cathryn Carson, Chair Professor John Connelly Professor Daniel Sargent Professor Deirdre Mulligan Spring 2014 Abstract Science, Technology, and Know-How: Exploitation of German Science and the Challenges of Technology Transfer in the Postwar World by Douglas Michael O'Reagan Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Berkeley Professor Cathryn Carson, Chair This dissertation is a comparative study of the American, British, and French efforts to exploit German science and technology following the Second World War, and through this, a transnational history of technology transfer, diplomacy, and science-state interaction in the postwar world. In the wake of the importance of science-based technologies in the Second World War, science became closely linked with diplomacy, scientific expertise took on new meanings and importance in government in each of these three nations, and the occupation of Germany created a perceived opportunity to simultaneously shape Germany's future and boost domestic industrial technology. Across the world, the relationships between science and the state changed rapidly in the postwar years, though with important national differences shaped by institutions and values. The central argument of the dissertation is that different assumptions and beliefs about technology transfer, and in particular conceptions of the importance of 'know-how' or tacit knowledge, fundamentally shaped on-the-ground policy decisions in different ways in each of these nations; and that these decisions, in turn, had important consequences for international diplomacy and domestic science and industrial policy in each of these nations. This dissertation examines the ways in which science and technology fundamentally reshaped, and were fundamentally reshaped by, larger forces and trends in twentieth century history. More specifically, these attempts at scientific intelligence gathering on an unprecedented scale drew upon and shaped the national and international structures for communicating science; they tied together science, technology, and intelligence communities in new ways; and they brought the difficulties of technology transfer to the attention of business and legal communities at a crucial time in the development of multinational corporations and internationalization of business. 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................................ii CV ..........................................................................................................................................iii Introduction ..........................................................................................................................vi Chapter 1 ..............................................................................................................................1 French Scientific Exploitation and Technology Transfer from Germany in the Diplomatic Context of the Early Cold War Chapter 2 ..............................................................................................................................20 British Postwar Scientific Exploitation and Tacit Knowledge Chapter 3 ..............................................................................................................................47 American Postwar Scientific Exploitation and the Myth of German Technological Superiority Chapter 4 ..............................................................................................................................67 Documentation, the Exploitation of German Science, and the Information Problem of the Twentieth Century Chapter 5 ..............................................................................................................................83 To Suppress, Exploit, or Support? The Uses of Science in Occupied Germany Chapter 6 ..............................................................................................................................102 The Curious Life of Know-How - A Business and Legal History Conclusion ............................................................................................................................122 References .............................................................................................................................127 i Acknowledgments A few words are meager thanks for the generosity that has made this dissertation possible, but they can at least be a start. Thanks go out, first of all, to Cathryn Carson, whose advice and guidance has been deeply insightful, helpfully critical, and supportive at each stage. John Connelly, Daniel Sargent, and Deirdre Mulligan have all been brilliant dissertation committee members, and their comments and critiques have been invaluable for both this work and in planning the research that will emerge from it. During my tenure at Berkeley, the Office of the History of Science and Technology (OHST), and later the Center for Science, Technology, Medicine, and Society (CSTMS), provided an intellectual home for which I am deeply grateful. Special thanks to Diana Wear in her role there, as well as the staff members who have made it such a resource and community over the years. Within the History Department, Mabel Lee has been a tremendous resource, as have the other department staff members. Thanks to all of the Berkeley faculty I have encountered, who have been invariably helpful and generous with their time, but especially to Massimo Mazzotti, Susanna Barrows, John Lesch, Abena Osseo-Asare, and Margaret Anderson. As goes funding, so goes the world, and this dissertation has been supported by a number of generous groups. In roughly chronological, thanks to the UC Berkeley History department for graduate funding and summer grants; the UC Berkeley graduate division for a number of grants and fellowships, including a chance to take part in the Student Mentoring and Research Teams (SMART) pilot program (and special thanks to Michael Hahn, who did fantastic research therein); the EU Center, Center for German and European Studies, and Institute for European Studies at UC Berkeley; the Department of Energy for the Edward Teller Fellowship in Science and National Security Studies; the Pennsylvania Area Center for the History of Science for a very productive research grant; and the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia for hosting me in my dissertation completion year via their National Fellows program. The last of these – for which I would particularly like to thank Brian Balogh, the Miller Center's staff, James Hershberg, and my fellow fellows – also left me indebted to a number of faculty at the University of Virginia, among them (but certainly not limited to) John Brown, John Duffy, and Will Thomas. Archival work would be impossible without the work of countless archivists and librarians, some of whom I had the pleasure of working with directly, but many more of whom contributed enormously to this work indirectly. Thanks to the staff at the US National Archives in College Park, MD and Washington, DC; the Library of Congress; the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair; the Hagley Museum; the Chemical Heritage Foundation; the UK National Archives in Kew; the British Library; the Archives Nationales in Fontainebleau and Paris; and the Service Historique de la Defense. This research would also have been impossible without the efforts of the librarians and library staff at UC Berkeley, Berkeley Public Library, Stanford University, the University of Virginia, and the UVA Law School. Listing particular individuals for special thanks has the unfortunate side effect of snubbing the infinite others without whom I could not have conceived, started, pursued, or especially finished this project. To that end, I can only offer a sincere thanks to so many who have offered thoughts, insight, criticisms, distraction, or support throughout this process. ii DOUGLAS MICHAEL O'REAGAN EDUCATION University of California, Berkeley Ph.D, History 2008 - Present M.A., History 2007-2008 University of Virginia B.A., History; B.S., Physics 2003-2007 History Thesis: "The Evolution of Military Satellite Intelligence" Physics Thesis: "Active Magnetic Field Cancellation for Bose-Einstein Condensate Experimentation" DISSERTATION "Science, Technology, and Know-How: Exploitation of German Science and the Challenges of Technology Transfer in the Postwar World" Dissertation Committee: Cathryn Carson (Chair, History), John Connelly (History), Daniel Sargent (History), Deirdre Mulligan (Berkeley Law) PUBLICATIONS "French Scientific Exploitation and Technology Transfer from Germany in the Diplomatic Context of the Early Cold War," International