Patrick MCCRAY

 
Résumé du projet de recherche

My proposed research examines the history of a contemporary mega-science project in southern France. Using interviews and critical analysis of French and international media coverage, I will explore the history of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), an ambitious fusion energy project. I will situate my findings in the context of France’s tradition of bold, high-technology projects, southern France’s technological and economic development, and national and international science policies. My intent is to answer two broad questions – First, how does the ITER project fit into the larger history of France’s embrace of nuclear power? Second, how do large international science collaborations fit into regional cultures – rural France, in this case – while also helping fulfill broader goals such as further cooperation of European Union countries?

Curriculum vitae

W. Patrick McCray

Professor, Department of History
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9410
Phone: 805.893.2665  Fax: 805.893.8795  E-Mail: Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir.

Education 

Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering (major); Anthropology (minor), University of Arizona, 1996
M.S. Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 1991
B.S. Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 1989

Previous appointments

Associate Professor, Department of History, University of California at Santa Barbara, 2005-2007
Co-Director of Center for Nanotechnology in Society at UCSB, 2005-2007
Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of California at Santa Barbara, 2003-2005
Associate Historian; Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics, 2000-2003
Adjunct Faculty, Department of History, University of Maryland, 2001
Research Fellow, The George Washington University, 1999-2000
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Arizona, 1997-1999

Major Research Grants and Contracts

Sabbatical Research Grant ($30,000) from the Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation, for Spring 2010.
Residency Fellowship from the Camargo Foundation; Cassis, France, 2008.
NSF-funded Center for Nanotechnology in Society; national center funded October 2005 (~$5,500,000); McCray (co-PI ) with five other UCSB faculty/staff; 2006-2010.
NSF Grant for multi-year educational program – INSCITES: Insights on Science and Technology for Society – ($300,000), McCray (co-PI) with Evelyn Hu (PI) and Fiona Goodchild (co-PI), 2006-2008.
Research Grant from California NanoSystems Institute ($35,000) for pilot research project, “Exploring Nanotechnology: A Historical Reconnaissance,” McCray (PI), 2004-2006.
NSF Research Grant from Science and Technology Studies Program ($93,000), “Astronomy during the Cold War: The Case of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory,” McCray (PI) with David H. DeVorkin (co-PI) and Spencer Weart (administrative PI); 2004-2006.
NSF Small Grant for Exploratory Research ($7,000), “For the Record: A Workshop on Conducting Oral Histories of Science,” McCray (PI) with Amy Crumpton, Elizabeth Paris, and Spencer Weart as co-PIs; 2003.
NASA Research Grant ($55,000), “The James Webb Space Telescope: Documenting NASA’s History as it Happens,” McCray (co-PI) with Robert W. Smith (co-PI) and Spencer Weart (administrative PI); 2003-2007.
NSF Small Grant for Exploratory Research ($32,000), “History of the Gemini Telescopes,” 2000-2002.
Co-Investigator with Robert W. Smith (PI); “Next Generation/James Webb Space Telescope History Project” (approx. $20,000/year), research contract sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency, 1999-2004.
NSF Professional Development Fellowship, Science and Technology Studies Program ($50,000), 1998-99.

Professional Service and Community Activities

I regularly referee manuscripts and review books for several journals including Technology and Culture, Isis, History and Technology, and Social Studies of Science as well as grant proposals for the National Science Foundation.
Advisory Board member, Science Progress project for Center for American Progress (2008-present)
Member, Editorial Board for University of California Press journal Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences (2006-present)
Member, External Advisory Board; University of South Carolina NanoCenter (2006-present).
Member, UCSB Faculty Association Board (2006-present).
Member, Derek Price/Rod Webster Prize Committee for the History of Science Society (2005-2006).
Member, Steering Committee of the Forum for the History of Science in America (2005-2007).
Faculty advisor (2004), UCSB Nuclear Free (student organization).
Member (2003-present), History Associates, Santa Barbara, CA.
Member (2003-2005), Executive Committee of American Physical Society’s Forum on the History of Physics.
Chair (2003) and Member (2002, 2004), Levinson Prize Committee (Society for the History of Technology).
Member (2003), Da Vinci Prize Committee (Society for the History of Technology).
President (2002), Treasurer (2003) and Board Member; Washington, D.C. chapter of the National Audubon Society, a non-profit organization with over 1100 members. 
 
Current and Recent Professional Affiliations

Society for the History of Technology, History of Science Society, Organization of American Historians, American Physical Society.

CV complet/Long CV

Main Publications

Books

Keep Watching the Skies! The Story of Operation Moonwatch and the Dawn of the Space Age; (Princeton University Press, 2008).
Giant Telescopes: Astronomical Ambitions and the Promise of Technology, (Harvard University Press, 2004; paperback edition in 2006).
Glassmaking in Renaissance Venice: The Fragile Craft, (Ashgate Press, 1999).

Major Refereed Articles and Book Chapters

“From Lab to iPod: A Story of Discovery and Commercialization in the Post-Cold War Era,” Technology and Culture, 50, 1 (2009): 58-81.
“Will Small Be Beautiful? Making Policies for Our Nanotech Future,” included in Technology and Society: Building our Sociotechnical Future, edited by Deborah Johnson and Jameson Wetmore (MIT Press, 2008), p. 323-354.
Cosmic Journey: A History of Scientific Cosmology, (co-authored with Norriss Hetherington); peer-reviewed, permanent web exhibit (approx. 15,000 words), presented by Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics (http://www.aip.org/history/exhibits/cosmology/), premiered January 2007.
“Amateur Scientists, the International Geophysical Year, and the Ambitions of Fred Whipple.” Isis 97, 4 (2006): 634-658.
“Will Small Be Beautiful? Making Policies for Our Nanotech Future.” History and Technology 21, 2 (2005): 177-203.
“Project Vista, Caltech, and the Dilemmas of Lee DuBridge.” Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences 34, 2 (2004): 339-370.
“The Contentious Role of a National Observatory,” Physics Today, 56, 10 (2003): 55-61.
“What Makes a Failure? Designing a New National Telescope, 1975-1984,” Technology and Culture, 42, 2 (2001): 265-291
“Entrepreneurship in Technology Transfer Offices: Making Work Visible,” with Jennifer L. Croissant, in Degrees of Compromise: Industrial Interests and Academic Values, Jennifer L. Croissant and Sal Restivo, eds. (SUNY Press, 2001), p. 55-76.
“Large Telescopes and the Moral Economy of Recent Astronomy,” Social Studies of Science 30, 5 (2000): 685-711.
“Creating Networks of Skill: Technology Transfer and the Glass Industry of Renaissance Venice,” The Journal of European Economic History, 28, 2 (1999): 301-333.
“Ancient Glassmaking Technology at Sepphoris, Israel,” with A. Fischer, The Journal of Archaeological Science, August 1999: 893-905
“An Integrative Review and Examination of Glass Furnace Technology in Renaissance Italy,” in The Prehistory and History of Ceramic Kilns (ed. Prudence Rice); Volume 7 in the Ceramics and Civilization series, (The American Ceramic Society, 1997), pp. 219-242.

Edited Works

Editor of three educational/historical web exhibits presented by the Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics: Ernest Lawrence and the Cyclotron, Moments of Discovery, and Great American Physics Papers (2000-2003).

Over two dozen Oral History Interviews with prominent physicists, astronomers, and science managers; conducted for the Center for History of Physics (2000-2003); part of permanent collection of the Niels Bohr Library, American Institute of Physics, College Park, MD.

Editor, The Prehistory and History of Glassmaking Technology, Volume 8 of the Ceramics and Civilization Series, (The American Ceramic Society, 1998).

Work in Progress or Submitted

Visioneering: Technology Enthusiasm and the Challenge of Limits, book project in progress; under contract with Princeton University Press with target submission of late 2010.


Toutes les publications et CV complet