Engineering the environment : phytotrons and the quest for climate control in the Cold War /

"This is the first history of phytotrons: huge climate-controlled laboratories that enabled plant scientists to experiment on the environmental causes of growth and development of living organisms. Made possible by computers and other modern technologies of the early Cold War, such as air condi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Munns, David P. D., 1972-
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Pittsburgh, Pa. : University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017.
Series:Book collections on Project MUSE.
Subjects:
Online Access:Connect to this title online (unlimited users allowed)
Table of Contents:
  • Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Prelude. The World of Trons; Introduction. The Age of Biology; 1. "The Awe in Which Biologists Hold Physicists": Building the First Phytotron at Caltech; 2. At Work in the Caltech Phytotron; 3. The Climatron; Coda I. The Finale of Frits Went; 4. The Postcolonial Science of the Australian Phytotron; 5. The Twin Phytotrons of the Triangle between Duke and North Carolina State; 6. Big Biology in the Biotron; Coda II. The Passing of the Age of Biology; Conclusion. The New Age of Climate; Appendices; I. Chemical Symbols and Substances.
  • II. Phytotronic Units of IlluminationIII. Botanical Terms; Notes; Bibliography; Index.