Government Scientists in America

For much of the book, its primary narrative and thematic focus is on the experiences of scientists in America. Parts 1, 2, and 3 each contain detailed considerations of the interests, careers, and lives of scientists working for the United States government, with the narrative placing emphasis on a few common experiences in the experience of each scientist. Those experiences include an interest in science and the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, as well as each scientist taking a somewhat roundabout route to a prominent job within the U.S. government.

Perhaps the more significant common experience shared by these scientists, though, is that which the scientists encountered in the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump. Virtually without exception, each of the scientists portrayed in the book found themselves, their work, and the government organization within which they did that work virtually dismissed by...