III. SCIENCE DURING WORLD WAR II 



Despite the numerous and long-term interactions between sci- 

 ence and the Federal Government prior to 1940, World War II nev- 

 ertheless served as a point of transition in the development of this 

 relationship. The scale of Government support of research climbed 

 dramatically, never to return to the prewar levels. Moreover, the 

 combination of institutions and Federal support systems which ex- 

 isted before 1940 was significantly altered during the course of the 

 war. Another impact of the war was to transform the relationships 

 among government, universities, private foundations, and industry. 

 Of these, the most notable change for science was the strengthen- 

 ing of the link between government and universities, but another 

 important outcome was the establishment of the military as a con- 

 tinuing and generous supporter of scientific research and techno- 

 logical development. 



Such fundamental changes in the structure of American science 

 policy were made possible only through the crisis and state of ur- 

 gency created by the war. It was, in a very real sense, a battle for 

 self-preservation. Winning the war became society's overriding ob- 

 jective, one which created a very special political climate. In the 

 words of political scientist Don K. Price, "Even more than the 

 profit motive of a private corporation, the demand for uncondition- 

 al victory lets you reduce all issues to questions of means; the ends 

 are not in doubt." 1 



The scientific community became an active participant in the 

 wartime mobilization of national resources. To use research quickly 

 enough to affect the outcome of the war, the Government reorga- 

 nized existing scientific infrastructure and personnel, thereby 

 avoiding the need to establish new laboratories or train new scien- 

 tists as was done during World War I. Moreover, because the sup- 

 port given to scientists and engineers was restrained not on finan- 

 cial grounds but only by the limits of personnel and materials, 

 total Government expenditures for scientific research soared. The 

 Government became the principal supporter of research. And al- 

 though this wartime funding was overwhelmingly for technology 

 and weapons development — that is, for applied rather than basic 

 research — one important outcome was the Government's adoption 

 of an unique contract system with universities and industry, a 

 system later adopted for the support of postwar basic research. 



Long before the end of the war, policymakers began thinking 

 about how this new infrastructure would be supported within a 

 peacetime economy. Such thinking was part of the broader plan- 

 ning for postwar reconversion, which began as early as 1943. It was 

 clear that the Office of Scientific Research and Development was a 



1 Don K. Price, "Science at a Policy Crossroads," Technology Review, 73, (April 1971), 35. 



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