Description
Book SynopsisThis is the story of how the Smithsonian Institute became intertwined in a secret biological warfare project.During the 1960s, the Smithsonian Institution undertook a large-scale biological survey of a group of uninhabited tropical islands in the Pacific. It was one of the largest and most sweeping biological survey programs of all time, a six-year-long enterprise during which Smithsonian personnel banded 1.8 million birds, captured live specimens and took blood samples, and catalogued the avian, mammalian, reptile, and plant life of 48 Pacific islands. But there was a twist. The study had been initiated, funded, and was overseen by the U.S. Biological Laboratories at Fort Detrick, Maryland. The home of the American biological warfare program. In signing the contract to perform the survey, the Smithsonian became a literal subcontractor to a secret biological warfare project. And by participating in the survey, the Smithsonian scientists were paving the way for top-secret biological war
Trade ReviewIn his well-written book about the Pacific Program, author Ed Regis provides a detailed description on how the POBSP was organized, the islands visited and their wildlife or about the people involved in the program...The book is enjoyable to read and a welcome addition to the history of biological warfare. The book is therefore highly recommended. * Robert Petersen, Special consultant at the Centre for Biosecurity and Biopreparedness, Statens Serum Institute *
Table of ContentsPreface Chapter 1 Secrecy Comes to the Smithsonian Chapter 2 Recruitment Chapter 3 Prequels Chapter 4 Life in the Field Chapter 5 The Artificial Atoll Chapter 6 Project 112 Chapter 7 "Bird Bombs" Chapter 8 The Military Payoff Chapter 9 The "Secret" Emerges Chapter 10 Fate of the Islands Chapter 11 Aftermath and Aftereffects Epilogue Appendix
