Professor of History and Classics, University of Alberta George Sarton Memorial Lecture in the History and Philosophy of Science Dr. Smith is a scholar of history and the classics. His research interests center on the history of astronomy and U.S. science and technology, especially the history of space science. Among his research projects is a study of a multi-billion dollar “Big Science” project, the James Webb Space Telescope, under construction by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Canadian Space Agency, and the European Space Agency. Big Science has become one of the central elements of both contemporary science and the workings of modern nation states. His lecture will examine the rise of Big Science and the critical policy issues it raises.