British Scientists and 'Outsider' Politics, 1931- 1945

Abstract

Much has been written in recent years about the political activities of natural scientists in Great Britain during the I930s.1 For the most part, such literature has concerned itself with certain ideological affinities which encouraged an alliance between 'moderate' and 'left-wing' elements within the scientific community. In this paper, however, emphasis will be placed on important ideological divisions between the leaders of the Science and Society Movement. The fact that a scientists' 'popular front' was achieved will be explained in terms both of the low status accorded their profession by the nation's political and intellectual elites up until I939, and of the subsequent demand for scientific expertise during the Second World War. As political 'outsiders', it was therefore natural that at least some British scientists attempted to influence public policy through the formation of pressure groups independent of both the Government and party politics.2 After discussing the development and decline of the alliance of socially conscious researchers, the paper will conclude with a brief comparison between the scientists' movements of the Thirties and those of the present day.