20th century "nuclear science", "space science" --- @Katharina, in recent history Science and scientific applications were indeed instrumentalised by governments either for political or national security purposes. 2 examples come to my mind are (1) nuclear science and the goal to build an atomic bomb (Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project) that ended the war and led to the cold war, and (2) the space race between the Soviet Union and the US.

Source author: Mouloud Khelif mouloud.khelif@gmail.com