Authors

Brit Shields¹;  ¹ University of Pennsylvania, United States

Discussion

The Lacy-Zarubin agreement of 1959 fostered the exchange of technical experts between the US National Academy of Sciences and the Soviet Academy of Sciences. This paper will analyze the scientific identity and cultural role of the individual scientists who participated, recognizing the complexity of their ideological commitments, often to both their home country as well as the international community of scientists. Specifically, the mathematician Richard Courant’s leadership in the program will be analyzed. Courant (1888-1972) was a trusted ally to the US government and military, having established a large research and training program at New York University through military and government contracts spanning the Second World War and Cold War eras and holding a high-level security clearance. Simultaneously, he was committed to the ideology that the exchange of scientific knowledge could promote peaceful relations between the US and USSR. This paper will examine how Courant imagined his own scientific identity and role in scientific diplomacy, as well as how his work was perceived by his governmental peers in the US. The talk will also invite discussion regarding the sources available to historians working on similar topics.