Missions for Science traces the development and transfer of technology in four Atlantic regions with populations of predominantly African ancestry: the southern United States, the Panama Canal Zone, Haiti, and Liberia. David McBride explores how the pursuit of the scientific ideal, and the technical and medical outgrowths of this pursuit, have shaped African diaspora populations in these areas, asking:

--What specific technologies and medical resources were transferred by U.S. institutions to black populations centers and why?

--How did the professed aims of U.S. technical...