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Mathematicians versus Practical Men: The Founding of the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

David Bloor

in The Enigma of the Aerofoil: Rival Theories in Aerodynamics, 1909-1930

This chapter focuses on the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (ACA) and the arguments regarding whether it provided the best or the worst in the field of aeronautics. Since it was founded in 1909, ... More

This chapter focuses on the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (ACA) and the arguments regarding whether it provided the best or the worst in the field of aeronautics. Since it was founded in 1909, the ACA was, and was intended to be, the brains in the body of British aeronautics. It offered to the emerging field of aviation the expertise of some of the country's leading scientists and engineers. In its early years, however, some people in Britain argued that the ACA failed to live up to its reputation. For these critics, the ACA held back the field of British aeronautics and encouraged the wrong tendencies. The reason for these strongly divergent opinions was that aviation in general, and aeronautical science in particular, fell across some of the many cultural fault lines running through British society, and these fault lines were capable of unleashing powerful and destructive forces.Less

Devolution and Communications Policy in Scotland

Philip Schlesinger

in Anglo-Scottish Relations, from 1900 to Devolution and Beyond

This chapter illustrates how ‘most of the Holyrood political class has been reluctant to explore the boundaries between the devolved and the reserved’, even on less life-and-death issues such as ... More

This chapter illustrates how ‘most of the Holyrood political class has been reluctant to explore the boundaries between the devolved and the reserved’, even on less life-and-death issues such as broadcasting. Conversely, it also tells of at least one post-devolution success story for classic informal pre-devolution-style ‘Scottish lobbying’ in Westminster. Scotland is presently one of the UK's leading audiovisual production centres, with Glasgow as the linchpin. The capacity of the Scottish Parliament to debate questions of media concentration but also its incapacity to act legislatively has been observed. There are both political and economic calculations behind the refusal to devolve powers over the media via the Communications Act 2003. Ofcom now has a key role in policing the terms of trade for regional production that falls within a public service broadcaster's target across the UK. The BBC's position as the principal vehicle of public service broadcasting has come increasingly under question. The Gaelic Media Service set up under the Communications Act 2003 has a line of responsibility to Ofcom in London. Scottish Advisory Committee on Telecommunications (SACOT) determined four key regulatory issues needing future attention by Ofcom.Less

The Statutes

SHABTAI ROSENNE

in Provisional Measures in International Law: The International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

This chapter focuses on the Advisory Committee of Jurists (1920), which was concerned with the major issues of the organization and constitution of the Court, its composition, and its contentious ... More

This chapter focuses on the Advisory Committee of Jurists (1920), which was concerned with the major issues of the organization and constitution of the Court, its composition, and its contentious jurisdiction. It also highlights the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals that were formed at the end of the Second World War. With the interpretation of the Statute of the Permanent Court and the Covenant of the League of Nations, the question of the binding force of an order of the Permanent Court was controversial, with major opinion of the writers answering the question in the negative. Even the endowing orders on provisional measures with binding force placed them on a similar footing to that of a judgment, they differ from judgments in major respects. With these multiple choice provisions and the various options that are given to the parties to a dispute, the court or tribunal first seized will have jurisdiction, and that this would exclude the right of any other party to make a different choice.Less

Balance? The BBC in Northern Ireland, 1972–1978

Robert J. Savage

in The BBC's Irish troubles: Television, conflict and Northern Ireland

This chapter examines how BBC television at both the regional and national level, addressed the continuing crisis in Northern Ireland. The chapter considers changes in the regional service and the ... More

This chapter examines how BBC television at both the regional and national level, addressed the continuing crisis in Northern Ireland. The chapter considers changes in the regional service and the transition from one Controller, Waldo Maguire to his successor Richard Francis. Maguire carved out a degree of autonomy for BBC NI, moving it out of the shadow of the unionist establishment. The chapter also considers how BBC managers, producers, editors and journalists worked with the new Northern Ireland Office, the department set up after the suspension of the Stormont Parliament to facilitate direct rule. Relations between the BBC and the Northern Ireland Office became strained as programming became more critical of British policy in the province and more interested in broadcasting features about paramilitaries, especially the IRA. The chapter addresses the massive Ulster Worker’s Council strike of 1974: a strike that paralysed the province and forced the collapse of the power-sharing initiative meant to bring a degree of self-government back to Northern Ireland. The BBC was heavily criticised for its coverage of the strike, its critics argued it helped facilitate the strikers who were supported by menacing loyalist paramilitaries. The chapter concludes with a debate written by the Northern Ireland Office to introduce a formal regime of censorship for broadcasting in Northern Ireland.Less

Appointment Procedure

Tilmann Büttner

in Unified Patent Protection in Europe: A Commentary

The appointment procedure has several phases in which both the Advisory Committee and subsequently the Administrative Committee become active until the candidate is appointed as a judge by the ... More

The appointment procedure has several phases in which both the Advisory Committee and subsequently the Administrative Committee become active until the candidate is appointed as a judge by the Administrative Committee. Less

Liberal Rationalism and Government Advisory Committees

Mark B. Brown

in Science in Democracy: Expertise, Institutions, and Representation

This chapter draws attention to the liberal-rationalist image of representation and explains how this embodies the politics of government advisory committees. The discussion continues with reference ... More

This chapter draws attention to the liberal-rationalist image of representation and explains how this embodies the politics of government advisory committees. The discussion continues with reference to the fair balance provision of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which is the key constitution dominating the composition of such committees in the United States. The chapter also highlights the advisory committee guidelines, which provide insight into how agency authorities, public representatives, and other civil servants understand the concept of representation and its key role in government advisory committees. The chapter closes with a detailed discussion on the two widespread but mistaken assumptions in the implementation of FACA: experts do not have interests and representatives do not have expertise.Less

Dividends

Angela N. H. Creager

in Life Atomic: A History of Radioisotopes in Science and Medicine

Following World War II, the publication of accounts such as John Hersey’s Hiroshima (1946) documented the devastating effects of atomic weaponry on inhabitants of the two Japanese cities targeted by ... More

Following World War II, the publication of accounts such as John Hersey’s Hiroshima (1946) documented the devastating effects of atomic weaponry on inhabitants of the two Japanese cities targeted by atomic bombs. Yet the American government presented a positive image of the atom, particularly in medicine. This chapter examines this apparent paradox. In the late 1940s and 1950s, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) sought to harness atomic energy for humanitarian uses, including advancing cancer research, therapy, and diagnosis. Yet the growing concern about the hazards of low-level radiation exposure, particularly from atomic weapons fallout, changed the public perception of radioactivity. The fear of cancer, which in the 1940s could be exploited by the AEC to justify its status as a civilian agency bringing medical benefits to the citizenry, was by the 1960s a threat to viability of the agency’s other long-term benefit prospect, nuclear energy.Less

Towards Legalization: Constructing an International Court

Gleider I Hernández

in The International Court of Justice and the Judicial Function

This chapter takes the reader through four important moments that were key in the creation of the Court as an institution. It briefly outlines the compromises arrived at during the 1899 and 1907 ... More

This chapter takes the reader through four important moments that were key in the creation of the Court as an institution. It briefly outlines the compromises arrived at during the 1899 and 1907 Hague Peace Conferences, the process relating to the creation of the Permanent Court of International Justice (1920–22), and the revisions that led to the inclusion of the International Court of Justice as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (1945). The principal argument focuses on the project to bring the rule of law to international society, in the form of judicial institutions, and reflects on the compromises made in order to achieve the goal.Less

The Constitution

Keith Richotte Jr.

in Claiming Turtle Mountain's Constitution: The History, Legacy, and Future of a Tribal Nation's Founding Documents

Chapter seven details the adoption of the superintendent’s constitution, the various groups vying for power at the time, and the community’s reaction and decision on the Indian Reorganization Act. ... More

Chapter seven details the adoption of the superintendent’s constitution, the various groups vying for power at the time, and the community’s reaction and decision on the Indian Reorganization Act. By the early 1930’s the people of Turtle Mountain had been pursuing a claim against the federal government for decades. At the end of the Allotment Era, the federal government presented the community with a constitution that functioned less a governing document and more a tool to perpetuate control over tribal governance through the federal government. While many in the community recognized the deficiencies in the proposed constitution they nonetheless were led to believe that the constitution was a mandatory step toward a claim. Choosing the claim more than the constitution itself, Turtle Mountain ratified the proposed document. When the Indian Reorganization Act presented an alternative, the people of Turtle Mountain rejected it in fear of the consequences for the claim.Less

Appointment of the members of the Advisory Committee

Peter Tochtermann

in Unified Patent Protection in Europe: A Commentary

To guarantee equal representation of each Member State’s interests, each CMS proposes a member with expertise in patent matters to become a member of the Advisory Committee. It is the objective of ... More

To guarantee equal representation of each Member State’s interests, each CMS proposes a member with expertise in patent matters to become a member of the Advisory Committee. It is the objective of the Advisory Committee to support the members of the Administrative Committee to appoint suitable judges and admit those who are suitably qualified (Art 48 UPC) as well as advising on setting up the training framework. As the members of the Administrative members are not necessarily experienced in patent law, it is of the utmost importance that the Member States only appoint patent experts with the highest recognized competence. Less

Fifty Years of Guardianship: The Committee for Simon Rodia’s Towers in Watts (CSRTW)

Jeanne S. Morgan

in Sabato Rodia's Towers in Watts: Art, Migrations, Development

This chapter focuses on the activities of the guardianship group known as the Committee for Simon Rodia's Towers in Watts (CSRTW). The group was founded in 1958 by William Cartwright and Nicholas ... More

This chapter focuses on the activities of the guardianship group known as the Committee for Simon Rodia's Towers in Watts (CSRTW). The group was founded in 1958 by William Cartwright and Nicholas King who had purchased the abandoned Watts Towers site. The CSRTW is committed to contesting, when necessary, city or state treatment of the Towers. Topics discussed include the creation of the first Watts Towers Arts Center in 1961 aimed at creating community goodwill and awareness of the Towers; the CSRTW's demise in 1985 and renewal in 2000; the preservation and maintenance of the Towers; the proposed establishment of an Advisory Conservation Committee composed of museum professionals; and the CSRTW's accomplishments.Less

The Defence Research Committee, 1963–72

Jon Agar

in Scientific Governance in Britain, 1914-79

The Defence Research Committee (DRC) was the successor to the Defence Research Policy Committee (DRPC). This paper traces the history of the DRC and its influence on UK defence research programmes. ... More

The Defence Research Committee (DRC) was the successor to the Defence Research Policy Committee (DRPC). This paper traces the history of the DRC and its influence on UK defence research programmes. The DRC, like the DRPC, conducted major reviews of the defence research programme, balancing inter-service demands, responding to new strategic guidance, and searched for cuts as projects overran budgets and the national economy struggled. The DRC acted as gatekeeper, proceeding with some projects while ending others. The DRC paid attention to some topics that the DRPC had not, including the balance between civil and military research, the human sciences and Northern Ireland. Influential individuals, such as John Kendrew and Hermann Bondi, are identified. Finally the transition to the current defence advice structure, involving both the DRC and a new Defence Scientific Advisory Council (DSAC) is discussed.Less

US Congress: Controlling Weather Control

Kristine C. Harper

in Make It Rain: State Control of the Atmosphere in Twentieth-Century America

This chapter discusses how US congressmen, especially Senator Clinton P. Anderson of New Mexico, attempted to regulate weather control as a potential weapon to use offensively against enemies, ... More

This chapter discusses how US congressmen, especially Senator Clinton P. Anderson of New Mexico, attempted to regulate weather control as a potential weapon to use offensively against enemies, diplomatic tool to keep allies within and bring non-aligned nations into the West Bloc, and domestic tool to keep the nation secure and its economy strong. Starting in fall 1950, Anderson and others introduced a variety of legislation that would have placed weather control firmly in the hands of the American state and kept it there with a Weather Control Commission modeled on the Atomic Energy Commission. But major stakeholders—military services, commercial meteorologists, and academic meteorologists—pushed back. The military wanted total control, the commercial meteorologists wanted no control, and the academics thought there was no control possible. Ultimately, Congress settled on the creation of a temporary Advisory Committee on Weather Control that would assess experimental and operational results and recommend further action to the president. The recommendation: continue conducting research on weather control. The day-to-day regulation of weather control? That was left to individual states.Less

The Meteorologists: Corralling the Research Agenda

Kristine C. Harper

in Make It Rain: State Control of the Atmosphere in Twentieth-Century America

This chapter addresses the work of meteorologists during the 1950s as they focused on understanding the underlying physics of precipitation processes. The weather control juggernaut, however, ... More

This chapter addresses the work of meteorologists during the 1950s as they focused on understanding the underlying physics of precipitation processes. The weather control juggernaut, however, threatened to discredit the scientific reputation that meteorologists had earned during World War II, and so these scientists were pulled from their data and equations into science policy. The American Meteorological Society, for example, produced a policy statement and attempted to influence congressional efforts to regulate weather control. But meteorologists were not in agreement; some supported weather control research and others considered it a waste of time and money. Consequently, the weather control research agenda—within and outside the United States—took two separate paths: one attacked cloud physics and precipitation mechanisms while developing viable theoretical underpinnings, while the other looked for practical methods of controlling the weather. The Advisory Committee on Weather Control then took those results and recommended that the National Science Foundation become the overseer of US research efforts and that the US Congress fund them to do so.Less

Advising on the Super

Ken Young and Warner R. Schilling

in Super Bomb: Organizational Conflict and the Development of the Hydrogen Bomb

This chapter looks into the business of campaigning for or against nuclear development. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and its committees were at the epicenter of this debate. Here, the array of ... More

This chapter looks into the business of campaigning for or against nuclear development. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and its committees were at the epicenter of this debate. Here, the array of advice and potential pressure on the question of the Super as it existed in late 1949 offered no clear direction to the president. Powerful congressional opinion challenged the advice of the most powerfully placed scientists, but that had not yet been sufficient to swing Truman behind the Super's development. His views, however, began to take shape in mid-January after receiving a report on the military aspects. Furthermore, the scientific General Advisory Committee (GAC), chaired by the former Los Alamos laboratory director J. Robert Oppenheimer, enjoyed a privileged position that it used to block, as it seemed, further activity beyond the theoretical work already accomplished at Los Alamos.Less

“Aristocrats of the Movement”: The Uprising of Brooklyn’s Laundry Workers

Matter Carson

in A Matter of Moral Justice: Black Women Laundry Workers and the Fight for Justice

In January 1934, during one of the worst years of the Depression for job scarcity, over four hundred laundry workers from the Sunshine and Colonial Laundries in Brooklyn walked off the job. Included ... More

In January 1934, during one of the worst years of the Depression for job scarcity, over four hundred laundry workers from the Sunshine and Colonial Laundries in Brooklyn walked off the job. Included among the strikers was African American Dollie Robinson. The employers’ refusal to pay the workers thirty-one cents an hour, the new minimum wage established by New York State’s recently formed Minimum Fair Wage Advisory Committee, precipitated the strike. Supported by elite allies from the WTUL, including Eleanor Roosevelt and Cornelia Bryce Pinchot, the workers, half of whom were Black, stayed out for two months. An analysis of this groundbreaking strike demonstrates the symbiotic relationship between union organizing and legislation and the efficacy of elite support in amplifying the workers’ voices. It also reveals a growing ideological rift between increasingly radicalized workers determined to engage in militant action to enforce their newly won right to organize and their WTUL allies, who continued to promote orderly, respectable behavior to win public sympathy and state support for women’s unionism.Less

Jane Schutt: May 22, 1963, Congressional Subcommittee, Washington, D.C.

Davis W. Houck and David E. Dixon

in Women and the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1965

Born on January 2, 1913, in Washington D.C., Jane Menefee Schutt was a lifelong activist who received her education from public schools and the Episcopal Church. Schutt attended George Washington ... More

Born on January 2, 1913, in Washington D.C., Jane Menefee Schutt was a lifelong activist who received her education from public schools and the Episcopal Church. Schutt attended George Washington University from 1929 to 1932, and settled with her family in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1942. In Jackson, Schutt became active in the local branch of Church Women United (CWU) and was appointed to the Mississippi State Advisory Committee in late December 1959. On May 22, 1963, she testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights in Washington D.C. This chapter shows Schutt’s testimony, in which she expressed her support for Senate Bill 1117 that would continue the work of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and its affiliated state organizations. She argued that blacks and whites need an outlet to tell their stories so that ignorance in Mississippi would not prevail.Less

Article 99 TFEU

Tim Maxian Rusche

in The EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights: A Commentary

An Advisory Committee consisting of experts designated by the governments of Member States shall be attached to the Commission.

Agriculture

James McDermott

in British Military Service Tribunals, 1916–18: A Very Much Abused Body of Men

The period of Herbert Henry Asquith's administration saw the continuance of a prewar laissez-faire attitude towards agriculture, reflecting the political temperament of government, optimism that the ... More

The period of Herbert Henry Asquith's administration saw the continuance of a prewar laissez-faire attitude towards agriculture, reflecting the political temperament of government, optimism that the war would be of short duration and uncertainty as to how formal direction might be imposed upon an extremely individualistic industry. The official attitude towards dilution of the agricultural workforce was influenced by the Army's short-term needs and by fluctuating domestic circumstances. Non-military substitution presented distinct problems for agriculture. Northamptonshire's agricultural Advisory Committee summoned several ostensibly qualifying workers and told them that they would be exempt from military service for the present. Fundamental political and military developments brought mixed prospects for agriculture. The ‘plough policy’ and associated initiatives increased the tilled acreage in England by some 20 per cent in the two years to 1918. Agriculture can be regarded as one of the unequivocal success stories of the Home Front.Less