CHAPTER XII 



Science, Research and Technology, 1970-79 



Up until the landing on the Moon, the Manned Space Flight Sub- 

 committee was universally regarded as the most prestigious and sought- 

 after subcommittee. In 1969, Teague's group included 12 members to 

 10 for the Science, Research and Development Subcommittee; by 1971, 

 the ratio was 11 to 11. In the early 1970's "S.R. & D." was clearly a 

 glamor subcommittee, vying with the rising attraction of energy as an 

 issue, especially with the creation of a task force on energy under S. 

 R. & D. in 1971. In 1975, as the two new energy subcommittees were 

 created to meet the challenge of expanded committee jurisdiction, the 

 name of the subcommittee was changed to "Science, Research and 

 Technology." Thereafter, "S.R. & T." took a back seat to the interest 

 in energy and recruitment of subcommittee members proved to be 

 difficult. 



From 1963 through 1970, Mim Daddario dominated the subcom- 

 mittee. He was succeeded by a revolving-door series of three chairmen: 

 Davis, Symington, and Thornton. During the 1970's, there was far 

 less stability as political ambitions and electoral casualties resulted in 

 an extensive shakeup of committee personnel. Continuity was provided 

 by Philip B. Yeager, a veteran of the original select committee, who 

 served as staff director throughout the entire period from 1963 through 

 1978 and was characterized by Theodore W. Wirths of the National 

 Science Foundation as "one of the Hill's legislative craftsmen." 



WILL APPLIED RESEARCH DILUTE BASIC RESEARCH? 



When the committee rewrote the charter of the National Science 

 Foundation in 1968 to open the door for more applied research, it soon 

 became apparent that there was a divergence of opinion both within 

 the committee, between the committee and NSF and in the scientific 

 community, over the extent of emphasis to be placed on basic research. 

 In 1969, and again in 1970, one of the big issues before the committee 

 was the extent to which the NSF should seize the initiative in under- 

 taking and encouraging applied research. The committee was appre- 

 hensive that the new authority in the charter, at a time of new budget 

 reductions, would cause NSF to go overboard and encourage eager 

 applicants to spend the scarce funds on "immediate payoffs" at the 



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