Remembering the Space Age. - Black Vault Radio Network (BVRN)

Great (UNFULFILLeD) expeCtatIONS: tO BOLDLY GO Where NO 143
SOCIaL SCIeNtISt aND hIStOrIaN have GONe BeFOre
because of its potential value or possibly because the committee realized that the
historians could provide a product for NaSa faster than the social scientists.
Mazlish became involved because he was a Fellow at the aaaS, where
he would eventually meet Bauer. a professor at MIt since 1955, Mazlish had
an interest in methodological problems and helped found the journal History
and Theory in 1960. Bauer asked Mazlish to develop the theme of historical
analogies. 32 Mazlish found the authors, including some of the foremost historians
of technology, business, and economics. In an interesting action—or inaction—
the writers did not meet to discuss their work due to limited funding. 33
the papers represented the usual range of collected works: some taken
from previous writings, some transitional new work, and some interesting
expostulations. however, the aaaS’s hope for major analogous comparisons was
not realized. the papers instead focused on the railroad with a few paragraphs
at most about the space program bolted on the end, which, as reviewer Kenneth
Boulding noted, “remind me, I am afraid irresistibly, of the libations to Marxism-
Leninism which usually accompany quite sensible russian works.” 34
the volume’s greatest contribution is Mazlish’s article on historical analogy,
a piece that stands by itself as a major theoretical analysis of that widely used,
easily abused, and poorly understood activity. according to Mazlish, analogies
often evolve into myths, which not only provide “needed emotional continuity
and support, but pass readily into models” that can mislead as easily as lead.
a possibly insurmountable problem was “historically conditioned awareness.”
how could researchers base analogies on events that occurred only once (like
the 17th century discovery of microscopic life) and changed perceptions forever
(like the railroad altering people’s concepts of time and space in a way that
reduced the novelty of future advances)? 35
Faced with these challenges, Mazlish stated, “I am tempted to state
categorically that, for purposes of scientifc knowledge, only a historical analogy that
1) allows for progressive trends, and 2) rises above the comparison or resemblance
of two simple elements can be of any real value.” More realistically, the best
research should treat the space program, like the railroad as “a complex social
invention” in a specifc (and evolving) environment. 36 any serious historical
analogy had to be based on detailed, informed empirical studies; focus on the
complex relationships within the larger system, and not simply comparing two
32 . Ibid. No aaaS records have yet been found of the workshop.
33 . Ibid.
34 . Kenneth e. Boulding, “Space, technology, and Society: From puf-puf to Whoosh,” Science,
(February 25, 1966): 979.
35 . Mazlish, “historical analogy,” pp. 9-10.
36 . Ibid, p. 11. emphasis in original.