I Think It's a Direct Result of the Postwar Assessment of the Role of Public Funding in Scientific Advancement

Robert Smith shares the story of how the astronomical community decided upon the JWST as the follow-up to the Hubble Space Telescope, the coalition politics required for mega-projects like Hubble and JWST, and how that dynamic shapes modern science. Dr. Smith holds a Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science from the University of Cambridge. He  is a professor at the University of Alberta. His book, The Space Telescope: A Study of NASA, Science, Technology, and Politics, was released in 1989. Discover more here: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/robert-smith-jwst-big-science

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.