Advisory Committee on Weather Control... Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific Research and Develop- INTRODUCTION Federal scientific research and development has evolved from a small-scale, loosely knit activity to one that today is large in size, highly organized, and elaborately programmed. Many factors have influenced this pattern of change. Considerations of national defense have been of overriding importance and have constituted the single most important influence upon Government organization for science. Defense research accounted for about 86 cents out of every Federal research dollar in 1954 as against an estimated 20 cents in 1938. The heavy emphasis on defense research has not, however, implied a diminished interest in research of other kinds. The new possibilities opened up by scientific discoveries, combined with increased public interest, have led to a great expansion of research in a number of other fields, notably in the peace-time use of atomic energy and in the agricultural and medical sciences. National military and defense requirements have raised the Federal budget and the Federal debt to such levels that it has become urgent to seek the most efficient means of organization in every sphere of activity, including the Government's research programs. At the same time, a prosperous civilian economy has generated an ever-increasing demand for scientific personnel, which has posed severe problems for the Federal scientific establishment. In the years after World War II, Congress and the public began to apply the same standards of criticism to Federal scientific activities as to other activities of the Government. In particular, both the Executive Office of the President and Congressional Committees have urged a greater degree of coordination of scientific work to avoid duplication and to assure that the proper emphasis is applied to the various phases of the Federal research effort. Scientists, both in and out of the Government service, have played an increasingly important role in public affairs. This no doubt stems in part from their wartime accomplishments, and in part from their own increased awareness of the importance of the political and administrative aspects of their work. There has been a trend not only in Government, but in industry as well, toward the use of various advisory techniques to assure that a wide range of knowledge and interests are brought to bear on questions of science policy, programs, and administration. The use of advisory committees has become so widespread that it is considered an integral part of the planning and execution of the Government research program. The demands of national security have brought about significant changes in the conditions under which some scientific activities are carried on. In many fields of research having a bearing on the national security, the Government is the main source of financial support, and a large proportion of the scientists working in these fields have been required to undergo security clearances. In these fields of science the publication of important new findings has sometimes been restricted for reasons of security, and there has been a need to develop substitute means of communication. The important role played by the Federal Government in scientific research and development and the need to possess basic information about the Federal Government's scientific activities has led to the preparation of this report. It should serve not only as a reference work but also as an indicator of some of the directions in which Federal organization for scientific activities has been moving during the past several years. Because there is no standard usage of many of the terms employed in this publication, a glossary is supplied as Appendix A. |