| The First World War created a crisis in the United States: though protected behind a wall of neutrality, Americans were apprehensive about the conflict's impact on national security. Fears for the safety of the republic and shock over the underdeveloped condition of America's armed forces prompted the Wilson administration and preparedness groups to develop plans in the event that the country became embroiled in the European conflict. Central to some of these plans were efforts to utilize science and technology in order to modernize and strengthen the nation's defenses. World War I was the first modern technological conflict; the national emergency generated innumerable scientific and technical problems needing solution. Scientific research, therefore, became an integral part of America's crusade to "make the world safe for democracy.";Colleges and universities naturally became important centers for this investigation. Institutions of higher learning were the acknowledged home of basic research in the United States; they possessed abundant laboratory facilities and trained scientists ready for immediate war service. Moreover, leading American universities accepted the notion that the academy should advance knowledge to help solve society's problems. The national emergency and crisis mentality that permeated America during World War I intensified the demand for university-based inquiry and heightened the connection between research and service. The republic needed new knowledge to defeat the enemy; academicians, seeking legitimacy for themselves and their institutions in an often hostile environment, clamored to meet this demand. America's wartime contributions in chemical warfare, submarine detection, and wireless communication owed much to their labors. The wartime research experience, in turn, had a profound impact on the postwar development of higher education.;Despite the historical significance of wartime science for the academy, historians have largely overlooked the subject. This dissertation corrects this oversight, filling a void in World War I historiography. It analyzes how American universities, represented by a select list of representative institutions, responded to increased demands for advanced knowledge during the war and how this influenced their commitment to scientific investigation and their relationship with government, industry, and other sectors of American life. Specifically, it examines how the crisis atmosphere and material conditions of the war coalesced with existing social and intellectual forces, particularly a well-articulated but undeveloped research-service ideal, to stimulate a strong devotion to research and service among American universities; how this commitment came to dominate these institutions during and after the conflict; and how this affected their role in society in and beyond the postwar years. |
