ment in the central administration of scientific research and devel- 

 opment, an experience that was to be drawn upon later during the 

 crises of the Great Depression and World War II. The experiences 

 of World War I served to strengthen the links between science, 

 Government, and industry. Moreover, having been recruited to 

 work on defense problems during the war, scientists themselves 

 learned of the importance of the team approach in tackling re- 

 search problems. 15 



A more concrete legacy of the War was ensured in 1918 when the 

 NRC was perpetuated within the National Academy of Sciences by 

 Executive Order of the President, thus making it a permanent op- 

 erating arm of the Academy. ! 6 Yet the organizational and institu- 

 tional legacy of the scientists' and engineers' wartime efforts was 

 actually quite small owing to the demobilization following the war. 

 The scenario was to be quite different, however, following World 

 War II when wartime scientific organization and leaders remained 

 vital parts of the nation's postwar science policy. 



University Support of Science 



If the Federal Government was known for its support of mission- 

 oriented research prior to 1940, then basic research was seen to 

 reside overwhelmingly within the nation's colleges and universi- 

 ties. The association of basic research with universities was, howev- 

 er, a relatively new phenomenon in the early twentieth century. 

 Indeed, the pursuit of scientific research in an organized manner 

 did not begin in earnest within American universities until the late 

 nineteenth century, a period when many new academic institutions 

 were established. During that time, many of the major university 

 laboratories were created and large graduate programs started. By 

 the turn of the century, many of the nation's best and most produc- 

 tive scientists were employed in institutions of higher education. 

 By the 1930s, universities were the undisputed leaders in the con- 

 duct of basic research. As an indicator of this, Government, indus- 

 try, and private foundation support of science often took the form 

 of funding basic research done within the universities. * 7 



Yet universities were important centers for the conduct of ap- 

 plied research, most notably in their engineering, medical, and ag- 

 riculture schools. The agricultural research undertaken at the na- 

 tion's land-grant colleges was perhaps the most elaborate and suc- 

 cessful program of university-supported applied science. These 

 land-grant colleges were established by the Morrill Land-Grant Act 

 of 1862, and received continuous public support through joint Fed- 

 eral and state government funding. The Hatch Act of 1887 further 

 strengthened the research conducted at the land-grant colleges by 



15 See Robert M. Yerkes (ed.), The New World of Science: Its Development during the War 

 (New York: The Century Company, 1920). 



16 Executive Order No. 2859, 11 May 1918. 



17 See Laurance R. Veysey, The Emergence of the American University (Chicago; University of 

 Chicago Press, 1965); Charles Weiner, "Science and Higher Education,' in David D. Van Tassel 

 and Michael G. Hall (eds.), Science and Society in the United States (Homewood, 111.: Dorsey 

 Press, 1966), pp. 163-189; and Stanley M. Guralnick, "The American Scientist in Higher Educa- 

 tion, 1820-1910," in Nathan Reingold (ed.), The Sciences in the American Context: New Perspec- 

 tives (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979), pp. 99-141. For the post-World War II 

 period, see Charles V. Kidd, American Universities and Federal Research (Cambridge: Harvard 

 Univeristy Press, 1959). 



