The first work in English to examine the twentieth-century development of all the sciences at a major university, this book traces Oxford's period of rapid growth between the two World Wars from a school devoted explicitly to the liberal arts to an important institution for research and experimentation. Jack Morrell shows how this transformation occurred in spite of considerable opposition, detailing the various and ever-present financial, social, and political obstacles typical of the academy. This well-told tale will fascinate anyone interested in the institutionalization of science.