Jacobsen’s book provides a chilling history of the agency, which was created by Congress in 1958 and has functioned ever since as the central research and development organization of the Pentagon. DARPA does not conduct scientific research but hires defense contractors, academics and other government organizations to do the work, and then facilitates the transition of the results for military use. Through effective public relations, the agency has been able to present itself as one that has led to innovations benefitting humanity such as the global positioning system (GPS) and the Internet. Its darker side has gone predominantly unreported over the years.