n 



Functional Area Problems, 

 Opportunities, and Constraints 



A. Introduction 



The previous chapter was concerned with the impacts that 

 science and technology are likely to have on problems that 

 transcend or cut across specific substantive fields or areas 

 of application, and on the ways in which developments 

 external to science and technology are likely to affect their 

 conduct. This second chapter focuses on likely impacts of 

 science and technology in specific areas of application, 

 organized around nine functional categories. Each section 

 considers the ways in which science and technology can 

 contribute to the illumination and/or resolution of a se- 

 lected group of problems of national significance, and 

 points to the limitations on science and technology in 

 making those contributions. 



The specific problems, opportunities and constraints 

 discussed in this chapter are derived from discussions in 

 the source materials published in the companion volumes 

 to this report. Other published reports, including par- 

 ticularly the first Five-Year Outlook and the first three 

 Annual Science and Technology Reports, have also been 

 drawn upon to provide additional factual information to 

 amplify or to round out the detailed treatments in the 

 Source Volumes. The source materials for this report 

 include the multiple perspectives of practitioners of sci- 

 ence and technology, the Federal agency programmatic 

 managers of science and technology, and policy experts. 



The discussions, based heavily on those perspectives, are 

 intended to provide a framework or basis for public dis- 

 cussion of the issues. 



The discussions in each section are not intended to 

 include all issues in the functional area, nor do they treat 

 issues in great depth. More comprehensive and detailed 

 treatments of problems, opportunities, and constraints 

 within a functional area can be found in the Source Vol- 

 umes (cited in parentheses in this chapter) or in the addi- 

 tional sources (cited in footnotes). 



Even with this selectivity, some of the sections that 

 follow discuss more needs and opportunities than could 

 possibly be fulfilled or pursued. The setting of priorities 

 among those opportunities and needs is a policy decision 

 involving value judgments. Therefore, it cannot be based 

 solely on scientific or technical criteria. The purpose of 

 the sections is to present a selected list of current and 

 emerging problems, opportunities, and constraints for 

 science and technology within each functional area as a 

 basis for selecting items for the policy agenda and for 

 viewing alternative approaches to problems of national 

 concern. 



Although problems and opportunities are usually pre- 

 sented in this chapter under only one functional area 

 heading, that does not mean that they are not linked 



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