Slayton’s research and teaching examine the relationships between and among risk, governance, and expertise, with a focus on international security and cooperation since World War II. Her first book, Arguments that Count: Physics, Computing, and Missile Defense, 1949-2012 (MIT Press, 2013), shows how the rise of a new field of expertise in computing reshaped public policies and perceptions about the risks of missile defense in the United States. In 2015, Arguments that Count won the Computer History Museum Prize.

Slayton’s second book project, Shadowing Cybersecurity, examines the emergence of cybersecurity expertise through the interplay of innovation and repair. Slayton is also working on a third project which examines tensions intrinsic to the creation of a “smart” electrical power grid—i.e. a more sustainable, reliable, and secure grid. Both of these current projects are supported by a five-year National Science Foundation CAREER award, “Enacting Cybersecurity Expertise.” In 2019, Slayton was also a recipient of the United States Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, for her NSF CAREER project.

Selected Publications

Slayton, Rebecca (2021) "What Is a Cyber Warrior? The Emergence of U.S. Military Cyber Expertise, 1967–2018." Texas National Security Review 4(1).

Slayton, Rebecca and Brian Clarke (2020) "Trusting Infrastructure: The Emergence of Computer Security Incident Response, 1989-2005." Technology & Culture 61(1): 173-206.

Aaron Clark-Ginsberg and Rebecca Slayton (2019) "Regulating Risks within Complex Sociotechnical Systems: Evidence from Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Standards." Science and Public Policy 46(3): 339-346.

Slayton, Rebecca, and Aaron Clark-Ginsberg (2018) Beyond Regulatory Capture: Emerging Expertise in Critical Infrastructure Protection. Regulation & Governance 12(1), 115-130.

Slayton, Rebecca (2017) “What is the Cyber Offense-Defense Balance? Conceptions, Causes and Assessment.” International Security 41(3): 72-109. 

Slayton, Rebecca (2016) “Framing Computer Security, 1967-1992.” in Communities of Computing: Computer Science and Society in the ACM, edited by Thomas Misa, 282-323. New York: ACM Press.

Slayton, Rebecca, and Graham Spinardi (2016) “Radical Innovation in Scaling Up: Boeing’s Dreamliner and the Challenge of Socio-technical Transitions,” Technovation 47: 47-58.

Slayton, Rebecca (2015) “Measuring Risk: Computer Security Metrics, Automation, and Learning,” IEEE Annals in the History of Computing 37(2): 32-45.

Spinardi, Graham, and Rebecca Slayton (2015) “Greener Aviation: Take-off (Delayed): Analyzing Environmental Transitions with the Multi-level Perspective.” Science & Technology Studies 28(1): 28-51.

Slayton, Rebecca (2013) “Efficient, Secure Green: Digital Utopianism and the Challenge of a ‘Smart’ Grid.” Information and Culture 48(4): 448-478.

Slayton, Rebecca (2012) “From a ‘Dead Albatross’ to Lincoln Labs: Applied Research and the Making of a ‘Normal’ Cold War University.” Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 42(4): 255-282.