S. Ravi Rajan (UCSC)

“The Empire Strikes Back: The War, The Usual Suspects, and State Patronage for Science and Environment”

This paper looks at the impact of the First and Second World Wars on British patronage of science and natural resource management in Britain and the Empire. It argues that the Wars, and intense lobbying by some resourceful old boys, marked a decisive shift in the British government’s outlook toward funding scientific and technological research and development in general, and forestry, in particular. It also discusses the role played by the Empire in the aforementioned shift in British governmental attitudes.