18 



In the subsequent assessment of the merits of NBS, adverse testi- 

 mony took the form of laboratory findings, interpretations of labora- 

 tory findings, and, above all, the evidence of many satisfied customers 

 and detailed favorable testimonials of use. Practical experience was 

 ranged evidentially against scientific laboratory tests by NBS, which 

 were themselves clouded by contradictory findings and interpretations 

 of laboratory tests conducted outside the NBS. 



Other issues concerned such matters as whether the tests conducted 

 by some particular laboratory had been properly designed, conducted, 

 and interpreted; whether the product being tested was different from 

 others previously found without virtue; whether the asserted virtues of 

 the product could be quantitatively characterized by a laboratory 

 test; and whether or not the product really contained a "mystery" 

 ingredient. 



Also of importance was the role of the NBS as a consultant and asso- 

 ciate with a nongovernmental organization that served as a mechanism 

 of self-regulation_by private enterprise itself, in its relations with the 

 consumer. 



The illustratwe features of the case 



Because of the wealth of issues involved in the AD-X2 case, it 

 offers useful and instructive penetration into the many aspects of the 

 congressional ]>roblem of securing reliable information about scientific 

 matters. No effort will be made in the study to resolve the issues that 

 remained in dispute as the case faded from view. It is the virtue of 

 science that truth is finally proved by communication and criticism. 

 In the words of the Committee on Battery Additives of the National 

 Academy of Sciences: "Unsound or illogical scientific work, once 

 published, will not long survive the fierce light of criticism to which it 

 is subjected." On the other hand, it is the virtue of politics to seek out 

 (and find) accommodations by which people can live together in 

 reasonable peace and freedom. Political decisions and policies are 

 sometimes found necessary to mediate, postpone, or circumvent the 

 effects of harsh and arbitrary findings of science that impose unaccept- 

 able obligations or conditions on the electorate. 



The issue of AD-X2 arose at the interface of science and politics. 

 It grew out of the underlying question as to whether science should 

 find increasing employment in regulating the quality and reliability of 

 commercial products. Out of the case came the decision that the 

 primaiy role of science in commerce should not be to regulate the 

 quality of products to protect the consumer but to discover the truths 

 of natiu'e, and use them more particularly to create additional products 

 for human satisfaction and entrepreneurial exploitation. The issue 

 apparently resolved in the case of AD-X2 is germane in the present 

 day. As American society becomes increasingly aware of the impair- 

 ments to the human enviroiunent that result from the api^lication of 

 technological innovation, the move toward regulation of products and 

 product use to protect the environment is gathering impetus. It is 

 easy to foresee the possibility of some future cause celebre, paralleling 

 that of AD-X2, in which the rights of some small businessman to sell 

 his product come into conflict with the regulatory mechanisms of 

 government and science to protect the environment. 



