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CRUCIBLE OF INNOVATION The story of DARPA, the Pentagon's cutting-edge research agency THE DEPARTMENT OF MAD SCIENTISTS by Michael Belfiore, Smithsonian Books 2009, 295 pages
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, who commanded Allied forces in Europe during World War II, is one U.S. president readily associated with military service. Conjure a mental image of "Ike," and it will most likely show the five-star general in his army uniform, bedecked with medals. What is less remembered, author Michael Belfiore reminds us in his new book, is Eisenhower's concern about the increased militarization of the United States during the 1950s Cold War with the Soviet Union. The cost of a single heavy bomber could pay for a school in 30 cities, Ike told the American public in a 1953 radio broadcast - or two electric power plants, two fully equipped hospitals, or 50 miles of highway. An armaments race is "not a way of life at all," the president warned: "Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."
Eisenhower's concerns helped...