The Role of Applied Science

Abstract

In March of 1964, the House Committee on Science and Astronautics asked the National Academy of Sciences for an advisory report to the Congress on certain fundamental questions related to government support of basic scientific research. NAS selected a panel of fifteen persons under the chairmanship of George B. Kistiakowsky, professor of chemistry at Harvard University and former science advisor to President Eisenhower, to consider the problem. Their report, “Basic Research and National Goals,” comprised of individual essays by each of the panel members, was submitted in March of 1965. The article by Professor Teller, professor of physics-at-large, University of California, that appears here is taken from that report, the fifth in the series of these articles appearing in the Bulletin.Two broad questions of fundamental importance had been posed by the House Committee: 1. What level of federal support is needed to maintain for the U.S. a position of leadership through basic research in the advancement of science and technology and their applications?2. What judgment can be reached on the balance of support now being given by the federal government to various fields of scientific endeavor, and on adjustments that should be considered?