W. Patrick McCray
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W. Patrick McCray (b. August 7, 1967) is a historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He researches, writes about, and teaches the history of science and the history of technology. He is also the co-director of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society [1] at UCSB, a national center for research funded by the National Science Foundation. The CNS-UCSB, along with a similar center at Arizona State University, are main international loci for research addressing the societal implications of nanotechnology.
McCray is the author of two books and over twenty articles which appeared in national and international journals. His first book was about glassmaking in Renaissance Venice. More recently, he wrote about the politics and technologies associated with astronomers' efforts to build modern giant telescopes[2]. He has also written about science and technology, especially amateur scientists, during the Cold War. His work typically focuses on the intersection of scientific communities with politics, policy, and popular culture.
McCray was born on August 7, 1967 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and is the only child of William and Carole McCray. He earned a B.S. and M.S. in materials science in 1989 and 1991 from the University of Pittsburgh. In 1991, he moved to Tucson, Arizona to attend the University of Arizona. He graduated in 1996 and worked for several years as a historian in Washington, DC at the Center for History of Physics at the American Institute of Physics. In 2003, he moved to Santa Barbara, California and took a position in the Department of History.
Selected Publications
Giant Telescopes: Astronomical Ambitions and the Promise of Technology, (Harvard University Press, 2004 (paperback edition in January 2006).
Glassmaking in Renaissance Venice: The Fragile Craft, (Ashgate Press, 1999).
“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
“Large Telescopes and the Moral Economy of Recent Astronomy,” Social Studies of Science 30, 5 (2000): 685-711.
External Links
W. Patrick McCray's hompage[3]
University of California, Santa Barbara History Department [4]
