Figure 1-1 . National R&D Expenditures by Character of Work, 1953-76 



40 

 35 

 30 

 25 



20 



15 



10 



5 



'54 



56 



58 



'60 



'62 



'64 



'66 



'68 



70 



72 



74 



76' 



"1975, 1976 estimated 



(a) Based on the GNP Implicit Price Deflator Source National Science Foundation 



Federal funds. Even before the sixties, over half 

 of the funds for both basic and applied research 

 carried out in universities came from the 

 Federal Government. Second, the bulk of these 

 funds came from agencies tied directly to U.S. 

 international competition with the Soviet 

 Union (DOD, AEC, NASA). Third, except for 

 the budgeting process carried on in the Ex- 

 ecutive Branch, the system was not effectively 

 coordinated or integrated by any science policy- 

 making body. And fourth, and perhaps most 

 importantly, it was a system which had proven 

 itself acceptable to both government agencies 

 and to nongovernmental scientists. The 

 problems which arose over distribution of 

 funds between regions, disciplines, in- 

 stitutions, and individuals were partly smooth- 

 ed over by rapidly expanding budgets and the 

 fact that most agencies relied heavily upon 

 peer-group evaluation by panels of established 

 scientists. Finally, the total national expend- 

 iture, including that of the private sector, for 

 research and development was growing faster 

 than the gross national product. In 1953-54 R&D 

 equalled about Vk percent of the GNP; by 1961- 

 62 it equalled almost 3 percent. 



By the mid-1960's, it was clear that although 

 the total national R&D effort was growing, its 

 distribution had settled into a pattern, justified 



by arguments which had changed little from the 

 prewar period. Most R&D money (two-thirds) 

 went for development, and the vast majority of 

 that was performed by private industry. (See 

 Figures 1-1 and 1-2). More thanone-fifth of R&D 

 funds went for applied research with, again, 

 private industry doing most of the work. Finally 

 about one-eighth of the funds went for basic 

 research, half of which was done by colleges 

 and universities and their affliated contract 

 research centers, almost one-fourth of which 

 was carried on by private industry, one-sixth 

 by Federal agencies directly and less than one- 

 tenth by nonprofit institutions exclusive of 

 universities and colleges. Except in the case of 

 private industry, the Government paid the bulk 

 of the money for basic research performance. 



CHALLENGES TO THE SYSTEM 



Forebodings about the future of the system 

 had been sensed early in the decade. Whether 

 from a distrust of good times or a shrewd 

 reading of the political winds, Philip H. Abelson 

 warned in 1963 that "my guess is that the 

 honeymoon is about to end and that there could 

 be trouble ahead."" One source of concern was 



" Science, 139 (January 



19631. 3(). r i. 



16 



RESEARCH IN THE UNITED STATES 



