individual, corporation, State, or Na- 

 tion. All the people are the bene- 

 ficiaries. Go\'ernments dedicated to 

 the public welfare, therefore, ha\'e a 

 responsibilitN' for encouraging and 

 supporting the production of new 

 knowledge on the broadest possible 

 basis. In the United States this re- 

 sponsibility has long been recognized. 



2. Background Research 



The preparation of accurate topo- 

 graphic and geologic maps, the col- 

 lection of meteorological data, the 

 determination of physical and chemi- 

 cal constants, the description of spe- 

 cies of animals, plants, and minerals, 

 the establishment of standards for 

 hormones, drugs, and X-ray therapy; 

 these and similar types of scientific 

 work are here grouped together un- 

 der the term background research. 

 Such background knowledge pro\'ides 

 essential data for ad\ances in both 

 pure and applied science. It is also 

 widely used by the engineer, the 

 physician and the public at large. In 

 contrast to pure science, the objec- 

 tives of this type of research and the 

 methods to be used are reasonably 

 clear before an in\'estigation is under- 

 taken. Thus, comprehensive pro- 

 grams may be mapped out and the 

 work carried on by relatively large 

 numbers of trained personnel as a 

 coordinated effort. 



Scientific work of this character is 

 necessarily carried on in all t\'pes of 

 research organizations — in universi- 

 ties, in industry, and in Government 

 bureaus. Much of it e\'olves as a nec- 

 essary byproduct either of applied 

 research or of dexelopment. Only 

 \'ery rarely, however, does the knowl- 

 edge obtained emerge in patentable 

 form and the public welfare is usu- 

 allv best ser\'ed by prompt publica- 

 tion of the results. 



There seems to be little disagree- 

 ment with the view that these sur- 

 veys and descriptions of basic facts 

 and the determination of standards 

 are proper fields for Government ac- 

 tion and that centralization of cer- 

 tain aspects of this work in Federal 

 laboratories carries many advantages. 

 There are few private organizations 

 equipped to carry out more than a 

 small fraction of the research needed 

 in these fields. And it is obvious, for 

 example, that topographic maps are 

 most useful when maps for the entire 

 country observe similar rules in re- 

 gard to scale, contour lines, conven- 

 tional markings for roads, dwellings, 

 etc. Similarly, standard units for hor- 

 mones should be based on uniform 

 test procedures and be stated, so far 

 as is possible, in uniform units. The 

 Federal Government has recognized 

 these responsibilities in principle and 

 the Bureau of Standards serves as an 

 excellent example of how such work 

 can be carried out most efficiently. 



Recent technical advance in such 

 fields as synthetic chemistry and in- 

 dustrial biology have resulted in a 

 stream of new compounds and mate- 

 rials too rapid for present laboratories 

 to catalogue. Many substances of 

 great potential usefulness are either 

 completely unknown, or their prop- 

 erties inadequately described. Com- 

 plex minerals such as coal, and a 

 wealth of agricultural products, are 

 composed of chemical compounds, 

 any one of which may become the 

 basis of a new industry. What is 

 needed is enough knowledge about 

 their potentialities to justify the pri- 

 \'ate investment necessary for their 

 practical application. If the problem 

 is left entirely in pri\'ate hands, prog- 

 ress may be very slow. At present, 

 only the larger industrial laboratories 

 have the capacity to engage exten- 



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