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The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency Kindle Edition
No one has ever written the history of the Defense Department's most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science R&D agency. In the first-ever history about the organization, New York Times bestselling author Annie Jacobsen draws on inside sources, exclusive interviews, private documents, and declassified memos to paint a picture of DARPA, or "the Pentagon's brain," from its Cold War inception in 1958 to the present.
This is the book on DARPA -- a compelling narrative about this clandestine intersection of science and the American military and the often frightening results.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherLittle, Brown and Company
- Publication dateSeptember 15, 2015
- File size4392 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of September 2015: If you’re searching for an obtuse, synapse-dulling book on DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and its mission to create breakthrough military technologies, look elsewhere. Jacobsen’s nimble account of the ultra-secret R&D arm of the Defense Department engagingly details the shrouded history of the organization, starting with its genesis during the nuclear arms race and covering its efforts up through today. In her final section, Jacobsen offers solid but chilling conjectures on what covert programs DARPA is focused on now. Jacobsen (a journalist and the author of Operation Paperclip and Area 51) strikes a balance between lauding the technology leaps driven by DARPA and pointing out that the ultimate goal is to create wartime tools to guarantee U.S. dominance. DARPA’s successes include lighter machine guns (developed for slighter-bodied soldiers during the Vietnamese war and now standard U.S. issue), the Internet, GPS, and drones. Says Jacobsen, “DARPA creates, DARPA dominates, and when sent to the battlefield, DARPA destroys.” But, Jacobsen also asks, “what if some of these ‘dramatic new capabilities’ are not such a great idea?”
Hawks will find plenty of meat in here to fuel their arguments for the value of top-secret U.S. military programs. At the same time, doves will be well bolstered to pose uncomfortable questions about the worthiness of such activities in a free country. Thoughtful and nuanced, The Pentagon’s Brain will ask you to use your brain as well.--Adrian Liang
Review
One of The Washington Post's Notable Nonfiction Books of 2015
One of The Boston Globe's Best Books of 2015
One of Amazon's Top 100 Books of 2015
"A brilliantly researched account of a small but powerful secret government agency whose military research profoundly affects world affairs."―The Pulitzer Prize Committee
"Filled with the intrigue and high stakes of a spy novel, Jacobsen's history of DARPA is as much a fascinating testament to human ingenuity as it is a paean to endless industrial warfare and the bureaucracy of the military-industrial complex."―Kirkus Reviews
"A fascinating and unsettling portrait of the secretive U.S. government agency....Jacobsen walks a fine line in telling the story of the agency and its innovations without coming across as a cheerleader or a critic, or letting the narrative devolve into a salacious tell-all. Jacobsen's ability to objectively tell the story of DARPA, not to mention its murky past, is truly remarkable, making for a terrifically well-crafted treatise on the agency most Americans know next to nothing about."
―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Jacobsen offers a definitive history of the clandestine agency.... She explores the implications of DARPA work on technology that will not be widely known to the public for generations but will certainly impact national security and concepts of war."―Vanessa Bush, Booklist (starred review)
"Jacobsen's account will serve as the model for histories of military research and development and is likely to lead to more works and articles about DARPA.... Engrossing, conversation-starting read..."―Library Journal
"Annie Jacobsen's considerable talents as an investigative journalist prove indispensable in uncovering the remarkable history of one of America's most powerful and clandestine military research agencies. And she is a great storyteller, making the tantalizing tale of The Pentagon's Brain -- from the depths of the Cold War to present day -- come alive on every page."―Gerald Posner, author of God's Bankers
"A fascinating and sometimes uneasy exploration of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency...."―Dina Temple-Raston, The Washington Post
"In this fascinating and terrifying account, Annie Jacobsen regales us with the stories behind the agency's 'consequential and sometimes Orwellian' innovations, including autonomous weapons systems--killer robots that could decide, without human intervention, who lives and who dies."―Bryan Schatz, Mother Jones
"Annie Jacobsen has a gift for unearthing secret, long-buried information."―Mary Ann Gwinn, Seattle Times
"An exciting read that asks an important question: what is the risk of allowing lethal technologies to be developed in secret?"―Ann Finkbeiner, Nature
"The Pentagon's Brain puts Jacobsen in the company of important writers ... such as Shane Harris and Rajiv Chandrasekran."―Chris Bray, Bookforum
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : B00RTY0GEA
- Publisher : Little, Brown and Company (September 15, 2015)
- Publication date : September 15, 2015
- Language : English
- File size : 4392 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 577 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #45,314 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
ANNIE JACOBSEN is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author. Her books include: AREA 51; OPERATION PAPERCLIP; THE PENTAGON’S BRAIN; PHENOMENA; SURPRISE, KILL VANISH; and FIRST PLATOON.
Her newest book is NUCLEAR WAR: A SCENARIO.
Jacobsen’s books have been named Best of the Year and Most Anticipated by outlets including The Washington Post, USA Today, The Boston Globe, Vanity Fair, Apple, and Amazon. She has appears regularly on TV programs and media platforms—from PBS Newshour to Joe Rogan—discussing war, weapons, government secrecy, and national security.
She also writes and produces TV, including Tom Clancy’s JACK RYAN. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Kevin and their two sons.
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Top reviews from the United States
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I was a fan of the structure, which splits the book chronologically into sections that amplify how far reaching DARPA has been over the past 60+ years.
Sections and topics include (but are not limited to):
1) The formation of ARPA following WW2 and the start of the Cold War (nuclear weapons, missile defense, Sputnik)
2) Vietnam War (Agent Orange, AR-15, behavioral science and sensor technology)
3) Gulf War and the War on Terror (electronic battlefield, urban warfare, biological weapons, IEDs, mass data collection/pre-PRISM)
4) Present Day/Future (drones/biohybrids, nanotechnology, AI, human-brain interface)
Area 51 is also a great book by this author
Funny story, I ordered this book “used” from Amazon for my Dad who claimed that he didn’t remember ever reading this one. My father recently moved and got rid of a lot of the books in his extensive collection. When I gave it to him I told him I ordered it on Amazon but he noticed the notes in the margins were his handwriting. It was his book! Donated many months earlier in another state!😳 He’s re-reading it because any of Annie Jacobsen’s books are great even the second time around.
Some of it, I was aware of. However, there were many other things that were a revelation. If you are a fan of military history and/or scientific research, this is a must-read for you.
Highly recommend.
To be fair, there were some interesting and credibly researched bits of history in this book and you may find these tidbits entertaining. Just recognize that she really doesn't know what she's talking when it comes to science and technology.
Top reviews from other countries
She also discusses AI, Killer Robots, total surveillance, cloning and enhanced superhuman soldiers.
The questions book asks is do we the civilian population really have control over Defence research when we don't know what it is, and could the day come when the military complex loses control over the technology it is developing.
筆者は、機密解除された公文書や関係者へのインタビューを駆使し、第二次世界大戦中にまで遡ってDARPAのルーツを探り、現在に至るDARPAの歴史を描いている。情報機関同様、DARPAも機密の塊であり、本書で扱われているのはほぼ公然情報であり、スクープ的な情報はほとんど無かったように思われるが、DARPAの歴史をこれほど体系的に描いた書物はおそらく前例がなく、極めて価値がある書物だと思う。
現在、わが国では、防衛装備庁から大学等の研究機関への資金提供が批判に曝されているが、ベトナム戦争中に枯葉剤の開発に関与したDARPAも同様に大学への資金提供を世間から叩かれ、デモまで起こっていたということである。ただ、米国でこのようなことが起こったのは40年以上も前のことであり、日本は40年以上も前の米国の水準にようやく足を踏み入れようとしているに過ぎないのではないか。また、DARPAにはノーベル賞受賞者を始めとする超一流の科学者が協力しているが、防衛装備庁にこのようなレベルの科学者が協力しているという話は聞いたことが無い。日米間の力の差を感じさせられる。
日本の科学技術の優位が揺らいでいると言われているが、防衛装備庁からの資金提供は、日本の科学技術と我が国の防衛に何をもたらすのか。非常に大部の書物であるが、まとまりがなく、筆者の主張が明らかにされていないといった難点もあるが、日本の将来を考える上でも大きな示唆を与えてくれる良書である。