Wang (history, California State Polytechnic U., Pomona) follows the rise and fall of the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) from its origins under Eisenhower to its demise during the Nixon years. Aiming to shed light on the relationship between science and the state, he examines the role of the committee in considering technical and policy issues relating to specific events during the twentieth century, such as the Cold War, the establishment of NASA, the debates over nuclear weapons, the Sputnik crisis of 1957, the Vietnam War, the funding of the Stanford linear electron accelerator, the shaping of the Apollo moon-landing project, and the Kennedy administration's response to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. He also discusses the evolution of the committee, the role of the science adviser, and the post-Nixon revival of presidential science advising, including the Office of Science and Technology in 1976, and the President's Committee of Advisers on Science and Technology and the National Science and Technology Council in the 1990s. The book is based on Wang's doctoral dissertation. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)