Science policy past and present: Perspectives from AIP's FYI Bulletin

Speaking as both a historian and as a writer for the American Institute of Physics' FYI science policy news bulletin, I will discuss how historical knowledge can improve our understanding of current events, as well as how attention to current events can inform our understanding of the history of science policy. While the success of science policy decisions is always peculiar to their immediate circumstances, limiting the applicability of historical parallels, invoking trendlines and precedents can enrich the way we speak about the nature of these decisions. Understanding history can also illuminate the significant gulfs between past and present, spotlighting aspects of the way we make policy decisions that we scarcely notice. Likewise, attention to current dilemmas in science policy can reveal a need to investigate previous attempts to grapple with such problems that historians have hitherto neglected. Examples will be drawn from White House, congressional, and federal agency levels of policy.