American Science in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

Abstract

American scientists in the Gilded Age and Progressive era formulated the characteristics, definitions, and hierarchy of modern science. By establishing their professional authority, they guided government policy and expenditures and restructured the goals of education based on democratic and scientific ideas. Scientists mapped the coasts, waterways, and interior lands of the nation, determining the available resources for industrial growth and most efficient routes of transportation and trade. Scientists also translated new scientific theories and principles into understandable explanations for the general public and applications ranging from manufacturing to social reform. This period also saw the advent of scientific schools and land-grant colleges, led by administrators and professors trained in the natural and social sciences. Students from the growing middle class undertook studies in agricultural sciences and engineering starting in the 1860s and 1870s. They applied their scientific knowledge and laboratory training at experiment stations, research laboratories, in factories, and on farms. By the early twentieth century, progressive education based on scientific theory and principles diverged into scientific research at universities and vocational training for those destined returning to farms and workshops.