A List of possible research paper topics (not a limiting or defining list).

Remember, please frame your research topic in the form of a question. For instance: How did Edwin Hubble discover what became known as the Hubble constant? How did Linus Pauling's scientific reputation affect his influence as a political activist in the 1950s and 1960s?


The reception of quantum mechanics by U.S. physicists, ca. 1920-1935
The reaction of American scientists to the ideas of Immanuel Velikovsky
Scientific and policy issues involving ozone and climate change studies
Astronomical investigations of dark matter
The origins and influence of sociobiology
How the Farm Hall transcripts affect historical understanding of the German effort to build the atomic bomb
Discovery of the Hubble constant
The extent of military funding for U.S. science after World War II

The reception of ‘cold fusion' by physicists
The application of Kuhn's Structures to developments in 20th century biology
Historical origins of the search for extraterrestrial Life [SETI] in the U.S.
The emergence of chaos theory
The teaching of physics at Oregon State before World War II
Scientists as Political Activitists: The Case of Linus Pauling
Conflict between Naturalist and Experimental Traditions: Biology at Oregon State in the early Twentieth Century
Science and exploration – the Admiral Byrd expeditions to Antarctica
How did the Scopes Trial influence the teaching of evolution in the United States?

How did the controversy over global warming emerge?
The science of global warming: models and measurements
The use of science in foreign intelligence
Why was the idea of continental drift initially rejected?
The human genome project
The controversy over stem cell research: Historical Perspectives
U.S. Efforts to Build the Superconducting SuperCollider [SSC]
International collaborations in science during the Twentieth Century
What factors limited the participation of women and minorities in American science in the Twentieth Century