![]() ![]() A structural and institutional separation developed between enterprises charged with overhead data acquisition systems, which were classified at increasingly high levels of secrecy, and those responsible for data reduction, analysis, and mapping systems, which remained largely unclassified and publicly accessible, in part to conceal the classified data acquisition systems. ![]() This process also yielded the World Geodetic System, a mass- centered "figure of the earth" at accuracies adequate for warfare with intercontinental ballistic missiles. In the American case, a complex series of interactions between secret and classified programs and institutions and their publicly accessible counterparts accomplished both traditional and novel objec- tives of military geographic intelligence. In contrast, my analysis - which discusses post-WWII military patronage for the social sciences, Camelot's origins and cancellation, the ensuing controversy, and some longterm implications of this controversy - underscores the centrality of political developments and political concerns in that epistemological revolution.Ī great convergence of cartography, secrecy, and power occurred during the Cold War. Novick claims that 'strictly academic' considerations provided the categories of analysis that challenged the scholarly mainstream's commitment to objectivity and related ideals, like value-neutrality and professional autonomy. This paper argues that following Camelot's demise, efforts to rethink the politics-patronage-social science nexus became an important part of what historian Peter Novick has called 'the epistemological revolution that began in the 1960s'. Subsequently, Camelot became the focus of a wide-ranging controversy about the connections between Cold War politics, military patronage, and American social science. Project Camelot, a military-sponsored, social science study of revolution, was cancelled in 1965 amidst international and national discussion about the study's political implications. Imhof federated geographers and cartographers through the seminars that he led and the International Cartographic Association that he created and chaired. Despite the ideological climate of his time, Imhof used his academic position in Zurich, credentials in Bern, and professional network abroad to systematically encourage cooperation across the world, from Chicago to Moscow. Eduard Imhof (1895-1986) will allow us to touch on two important themes: emerging hubs in the geography of knowledge, and the adoption of common theories, standards, and methods by professionals and the academic community. In the course of our analysis of Eduard Imhof’s communication and diffusion strategy during the Cold War, we will add technical as well as institutional perspectives to the development of the mapping sciences. ![]() We will provide an account of the post-WWII diffusion of the Swiss standards of map design, and, more specifically, document the crucial initiatives that a lone professor took after 1945 to expand his expertise, ethics, and techniques worldwide. In this biography, we will explain how by 1975, on the eve of the digital revolution, Switzerland had forged a common professional identity, improved modes of communication, bridged political divides, and given a venue to the most innovative discipline and technology of our information society. Research on the international significance of politically neutral Switzerland could better acknowledge the leading role played by professional expertise and methodology in science and technology. ![]()
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