The 1970s Science and Technology: Overview

American attitudes toward science and technology in the 1970s evolved from a complete faith in its ability to promote progress and prosperity to a more cautious view of its benefits. At the beginning of the decade, scientific advances opened up a whole new world. Humans landed on the Moon with such regularity that the public eventually paid little attention, considering these extraordinary events commonplace. After missions to the Moon, the space program expanded its exploration of space, sending out probes to other planets and placing a space station in orbit around Earth.

While some scientists kept their eyes on the sky, others focused downward, scanning the ground for human fossils and clues to human beginnings. The search for the origin of life on the planet even extended to the seas as scientists and explorers probed the deep reaches of the oceans, discovering mysterious and wonderful creatures never seen before. Television brought images of those discoveries into the living rooms of ordinary Americans.

Televised views of Earth, both from underwater and from space, raised awareness of the fragility of the planet during the 1970s. Science not only sent humans to the Moon but was also responsible for developing chemicals that poisoned the crops, forests, and swamps in Vietnam. Toxic waste and pesticides in American soil and water, by-products of scientific and industrial progress, caused great concern to Americans. Rallies and demonstrations to stop the spread of poisons arose in communities small and large across the country. Pressure on the government resulted in federal bans on chemicals that had been part of everyday life.

By the end of the decade, many Americans saw science's ability to harm the planet as well as its capacity to benefit humanity. Nuclear meltdowns, toxic waste dumps, and space stations falling from the sky dominated the news. Technological and scientific advances continued, but Americans welcomed them with caution.