American Scientists and Human Rights from the Early Republic to the Cold War

In this insightful book, Paul Rubinson traces the deep and complex relationship between scientists and human rights since the founding of the United States to the present day. Through vivid accounts of dozens of individuals, both from the US and overseas, this work reveals the influence and importance of science as a human endeavour in foreign relations rather than simply the scientific export of knowledge. American scientists took part in one of the greatest social movements in world history and reshaped the ideals of universal human rights for their own national purpose. Informed by extensive research of archival documents, memoirs, oral histories, and poems, Rubinson recovers a side of scientists that is largely forgotten: how they created a world of international scientific values centered around the US and its interests.