Admiral William A. Moffett: Architect of Naval Aviation by William F. Trimble

Abstract

428 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE exhibited a flair for devising experiments that revealed predictable regularities in the animal’s behavior. Highly adept with his hands, the psychologist constructed apparatus such as the Skinner box that became standard pieces of laboratory equipment. His first book, The Behavior ofOrganisms (1938), summarized his research in operant con­ ditioning and established his scientific reputation. Skinner’s success encouraged him to seek ways to apply his tech­ niques more widely. Bjork traces Skinner’s shift toward behavioral engineering in three key projects from the 1940s. The first was the ill-fated Project Pigeon during World War II, where Skinner at­ tempted to produce a missile-guidance system that relied on specially trained pigeons as part of a steering mechanism. The second was an equally unorthodox foray into child care technology. In his shop at home, Skinner constructed a climate-controlled crib for his daughter, designed to simplify routine care and thus encourage parental inter­ action with the baby. Commercially marketed as the Aircrib, it met little success. Skinner had more luck with a literary invention, the novel Walden Two (1948), which described a utopian world designed and managed according to behaviorist principles. By the 1950s Skinner had left the details of his experimental pro­ gram to others and was busy spreading the gospel of behaviorism. A prolific author, his output of research papers was overshadowed by the production of eighteen books published between 1938 and 1989. Readers interested in the technical evolution of Skinner’s work may be disappointed that the biography does not always delve into the details of his research or the reactions it engendered. For instance, discussion of linguist Noam Chomsky’s influential critique of Skin­ ner’s Verbal Behavior (1957) is lacking. This is more than offset by the richly textured narrative of Skinner’s intellectual development and the clear exposition of his sometimes complicated ideas. Here is an exemplary biography of an inventive psychologist whose unique blend of laboratory technique, radical humanism, and utopian engi­ neering made a mark on modern culture. James H. Capshew Dr. Capshew teaches in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University. His article “Engineering Behavior: Project Pigeon, World War II, and the Conditioning of B. F. Skinner” appeared in the October 1993 issue of Technol­ ogy and Culture. Admiral William A. Moffett: Architect of Naval Aviation. By William F. Trimble. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994. Pp. x + 338; illustrations, notes, appendixes, bibliography, index. $29.95. William Trimble’s excellent biography opens with a summary chap­ ter or epitome, such as one would normally find at the end, setting TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 429 out the main themes and concerns of William Moffett’s life. Succes­ sive chapters flesh out and document in chronological detail the rather abstract generalizations of the opening chapter. It is an inter­ esting approach to the art of biography. William Adger Moffett, son of an old Charleston, South Carolina, family, attended the U.S. Naval Academy and served in some twenty ships from windjammer to battleship in what seemed to be a conven­ tional naval career. But, for reasons never quite explained by the author, after World War I Moffett became a passionate advocate of naval aviation, although he was never a pilot; only relatively late in his career did he qualify as an aerial observer. Moffett’s vision of aviation, probably because of his long service in ships, was as an or­ ganic and integral part of the fleet. He was adamantly opposed to a separate air arm within the navy or a separate service, such as Billy Mitchell advocated, combining army and navy aviation into an inde­ pendent force which Mitchell believed would largely supersede the older services. Moffett’s moderate views, coupled with his capacity as an organizer so ably demonstrated as commander of the navy’s Great Lakes training center during World War I, led to his appointment as the first chief of the newly created Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) in 1921. Moffett was not significantly involved in the many remarkable me­ chanical advances which marked the progress of aviation during his career. For students of the history of...