History 281: History of Science
Final Examination
Spring2015
Read and follow the instructions carefully.
Write your answers in essay form. Draw specifically on the lectures, readings, and discussions in writing your answers. Write a brief introduction and conclusion and be sure to answer all parts of the question. Be sure to answer the question actually asked, not one you wish had been asked. Your answers will be graded on organization, clarity, specificity, and creative insight.
Answer two of the following questions.
1. How can history of science contribute for a better understanding of Nazism? Answer by focusing on the history of the Auschwitz labor and death camp. Refer namely Nazi efforts concerning rubber production.
1. The two atomic bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August 1945, were not identical. What do we learn from looking at their technical details? To which parts of the Manhattan Project is each of the bombs related?
1. In which sense is the suburban landscape of the US in the 1950s post-nuclear? Discuss in particular the role of the RAND Corporation in producing the doomsday scenarios that informed the design of American suburbia.
