Between 1945 and 1970, Canada's Department of National Defence sponsored scientific research into the myriad challenges of military operations in cold regions. To understand and overcome the impediments of the country's cold climate, scientists studied cold-weather acclimatization, hypothermia, frostbite, and psychological morale for soldiers assigned to active duty in northern Canada.
Frontier Science investigates the history of military science in northern Canada during this period of the Cold War, highlighting the consequences of government-funded research for humans and nature alike. The book reveals how under the guise of ""environmental protection"" research, the Canadian military sprayed pesticides to clear bushed areas, used radioactive substances to investigate vector-borne diseases, pursued race-based theories of cold tolerance, and enabled wide-ranging tests of newly developed weapons and equipment.
In arguing that military research in northern Canada was a product of the Cold War, Matthew S. Wiseman tackles questions of government power, scientific authority, and medical and environmental research ethics. Based on a long and deep pursuit of declassified records, archival sources, and oral testimony, Frontier Science is a fascinating new history of military approaches to the human-nature relationship.
By:
Matthew Wiseman
Imprint: University of Toronto Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions:
Height: 235mm,
Width: 159mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 580g
ISBN: 9781487504199
ISBN 10: 1487504195
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 18 September 2024
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Abbreviations and Acronyms Introduction: Scientists, War, and Canada’s Northern Frontier 1. Fort Churchill and Defence Research Northern Laboratory 2. Acclimatization, Cold Tolerance, and Biochemical Experimentation 3. Entomology, Insect Control, and Biological Warfare 4. The Changing Science of Arctic Warfare 5. Operation Hazen and the International Geophysical Year 6. Nuclear Fallout and the Northern Radiation Study Conclusion: Reflections on Northern Canada, Military Research, and the Cold War Notes Bibliography Index
Matthew S. Wiseman is a lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Waterloo
Reviews for Frontier Science: Northern Canada, Military Research, and the Cold War, 1945-1970
""With care and commitment, Matthew S. Wiseman has written an original account of military and scientific intersections in the north of Canada after the Second World War. This book does much to pull military history out of narrow enclosures and into necessary conversations with other fields, but the principal feature of Frontier Science is the skillful synthesis of difficult archival sources to tell a crucial and neglected story.""--Matthew Farish, Associate Professor of Geography, University of Toronto ""In Frontier Science, Matthew S. Wiseman brilliantly exposes the interrelationships among military research projects in northern Canada, some of which studied and marginalized Indigenous peoples in a comparative and racialized framework. Reflecting settler-colonial narratives of domination over nature and continuing a wartime mindset in the early postwar period, Canada's Defence Research Board funded government and academic scientists and medical personnel to undertake controversial and, at times, cruel experiments.""--Isabel Campbell, Senior Fellow, Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History, University of Toronto, and Adjunct Research Professor, Department of History, Carleton University ""Combining thorough research and a careful eye for detail, Matthew S. Wiseman has filled an important gap in northern Canadian history and made a vital contribution to understanding the role of the military in shaping Cold War Arctic science. Scholars in Canada and beyond will find Frontier Science essential reading.""--Peder Roberts, Associate Professor of Modern History, University of Stavanger
