| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 90.3

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 208 words from this article are provided below; about 373 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 90.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Missions for Science: U.S. Technology and Medicine in America's African World. By David McBride. (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2002. x, 308 pp. $40.00, ISBN 0-8135-3067-9.)

In the last paragraph of this monograph, David McBride reveals the misapprehension that may have inspired the whole study. In it he quotes from "a leading American political philosopher," Francis Fukuyama. Fukuyama

wrote that "the unfolding of modern natural science has had a uniform effect on all societies that have experienced it." This science, in the form of technology, "makes possible the limitless accumulation of wealth, and thus the satisfaction of an ever-expanding set of human desires." (p. 230)

McBride contrasts that boundless faith in the power of technology and science with the actual impact American knowledge had on several societies. He in particular focuses on four communities with large African or African American populations: the American South, the Panama Canal Zone, Haiti, and Liberia. In all four he explores the impact of American medicine and, to a much lesser extent, the role of American technological prowess in promoting improvement among the peoples of the African diaspora. His principal time frame is the first half of the twentieth century, with the Panama chapter limited to the canal-building years.

. . .

There are about 373 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.