An Era of Optimism.

The scientific trends in the United States during the late nineteenth century were representative of a sense of optimism fed by western expansion, new successes in treating disease, technological advances, and the progressive belief that society was evolving in a positive direction. This association with progress linked science to the social and political goals of society and promised even more gains in the future.

Government Funding.

During the last quarter of the nineteenth century the federal government funded several important scientific projects, putting into motion a transition away from military control of scientific research at the beginning of the period to civilian control by the end. This shift partly involved shedding a model borrowed from Europe, where countries that were constantly at war concentrated many strategic scientific activities in army bureaus. American civilian agencies such as the U.S. Coast Survey (later the Coast...