Taube Center for Jewish Studies
Stanford University
Tuesday, December 7th, 12:00 noon
Bldg. 360- Conference Room
Tal Golan
Professor of History
University of California, San Diego
Zionism and Science
Co-sponsored by the Department of History
The history of Israeli science and technology offers a unique case study of a young and small nation that has developed an unprecedented love affair with science and technology. Unlike other nineteenth-century ideologies, Zionism was never considered to be founded on science. Nevertheless, from the very start, the Zionist movement perceived science, pure and applied, as central to its program of creating a new Jewish society in the Land of Israel. Modern science was to provide twice for the Jews: a relief from their religion and the tools to recover their ancient land from its ruins. Consequently, after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, science and technology quickly turned central to its ideology, politics, culture, economy, and security.
