19 



Definitions of Terms 



1. Science and Technology 



Every study that treats of the interactions of science or technology 

 with culture encounters the same problem of characterizing the various 

 descriptive terms relating to science and its exploitation. In an earlier 

 study by the Legislative Reference Service, an effort was made to 

 clarify the relationship of basic and applied research with technology. 

 The concept expressed there was that basic research has as its goal the 

 discovery of facts about nature. It was structured into such disciplines 

 as physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy; into such subdisci- 

 plines as solid state physics, inorganic chemistry, and solar astronomy ; 

 and into such integrating disciplines as physical chemistry, astro- 

 physics, and ecology. 



Applied research was defined as the use of information about nature, 

 derived from basic research, and employed to make feasible some 

 social goal or to create new technological options for man. It was 

 structured in two ways: (1) into loose categories of like fields or sub- 

 ject disciplines, such as meteorology, metallurgy, electronics, agron- 

 omy; these overlapped with (2) subject categories suggesting purpose 

 or mission, such as transportation, communications, materials, and 

 standards. All goals of applied research were observed to aim at a 

 single overriding objective, which was to develop ways to improve 

 man's compatibility with his environment. 



The products of applied research are thus options which man can 

 exploit by means of technology. Broadly, these options appear to fall 

 into four categories of technology, as follows: 



1. Physical modification of man. — An improvement in the 

 feasibility of man's capability to adapt himself to his environment 

 by physical changes of his own structure. 



2. Application of natural resources. — An improvement in the 

 feasibility of man's exploitation of the resources of nature to 

 change the physical environment to render it more compatible 

 with man. 



3. Environmental restoration. — An improvement in the feasi- 

 bility of corrective actions to restore the physical environment by 

 reversing impairments wrought by man or by natural forces. 



4. The, social environment. — An improvement in the feasibility 

 of actions by man to enhance his compatibility as an element of 

 the changing social/human environment. 30 



In this concept, the effects of basic science take the form of con- 

 tributions to culture — an appreciation of the universe of man in all 

 its natural laws and relationships. The effects of applied research are 



30 U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics. Technical Information 

 for Congress. Report to the Subcommittee on Science, Research, and Development of the 

 * * * Prepared by the Science Policy Research Division, Legislative Reference Service, 

 Library of Congress, April 25, 1969. House Document No. 91-137, 91st Congress, first ses- 

 sion. (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1969). p. 11. For a more extended 

 definition of the terms "basic research," "applied research," and "technology," see : U.S. 

 Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology. Science Policy : A Working Glos- 

 sary [Third Edition — 197-6], Prepared for the Subcommittee on Science, Research and 

 Technology by the Science Policy Research Division, Congressional Research Service, 

 Librarv of Congress, March 1976. (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, Com- 

 mittee print.) pp. 56, 57, 82. 



