Canadian Scientists and Military Research in the Cold War, 1947–60

Abstract

This article examines the militarization of academic science in Canada during the Cold War period between 1947 and 1960. As evidenced by the extramural program of the Defence Research Board (drb), the scientific research branch of the Canadian armed services, funding for defence attracted faculty and graduate students to the world of military research. Government officials and civilian scientists collaborated to establish and grow the drb’s extramural program, championing military research at Canadian universities and shaping academic work in both the physical and social sciences. Academics across the country benefited from the autonomy drb scientists held over the direction and distribution of federal funds made available for military research, suggesting that the militarization of academic science in Canada came from within the existing scientific community. An assessment of the political and financial ties established among government authorities and university scientists reveals the extent to which national security concerns influenced the work of some of Canada’s top academics. Military sponsorship is an understudied yet important object of theory and analysis for historians of Canada and the Cold War, and it is incumbent upon Canadian historians to discuss and debate the role and influence of military research in the university context.