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The Department of Mad Scientists

book by Michael Belfiore

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ7729749 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Department of Mad Scientists: How DARPA is Remaking Our World, from the Internet to Artificial Limbs, is a book by Michael Belfiore about the history and origins of DARPA. Belfiore describes DARPA's creation as the agency ARPA in Department of Defense and some of its notable contributions to artificial limbs, the Internet, space exploration and robotic automobiles.

Reception

In his review of the book, Tom Simonite says "Belfiore does a good job of exploring the sunny side of the moon that is DARPA", but also notes that the author had no access to DARPA's classified research, which constitutes approximately half of all work.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “The Department of Mad Scientists” as book by Michael Belfiore. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Department, Scientists and book.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current 104-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2009-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Department, Scientists and book providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Department of Mad Scientists”, the useful work is to connect “book by Michael Belfiore” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7729749. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

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Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Department of Mad Scientists”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Department of Mad Scientists primary sources, The Department of Mad Scientists archive and Department research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Department of Mad Scientists” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.