Using documentation from a wide range of periods in American history, the student explores the implications for scientific progress of such "typically American" traits as pragmatism, egalitarianism, and commercialism. He is asked throughout to assess the compatibility of science and American culture, government, and business; and to consider whether or not our culture is as conducive to scientific progress as is popularly supposed. The unit culminates in a case study of American attitudes toward the manned lunar program, the single most ambitious scientific and technological enterprise Americans have undertaken to date. (See SO 000 161 for a listing of related documents.) (Author/SBE)