New Priesthood, The: The Scientific Elite and the Uses of Power

Lapp, Ralph E. The New Priesthood: The Scientific Elite and the Uses of Power. New York: Harper, 1965.

REL is an atomic scientist who worked on the A-Bomb, and TNP is mostly a historical narrative and analysis of the military and political implications of atomic research. "It is the thesis of this book that democracy faces its most severe test in preserving its traditions in an age of scientific revolution. . . . The danger to our democracy is that national policy will be decided by the few [i.e. various experts] acting without even attempting to enter into a public discourse on the issues. If these few are the best technically qualified, then, according to an updating of Plato's original definition, our democracy will become a timocracy" (2-3). Immediately relevant, ch. 11, "The Tyranny of Technology."