in 1940 and had included many of the best scientists, the mobiHzation of 

 scientific men before Pearl Harbor would have been much more rapid and 

 effective than it was possible to make it. 



We believe that the obligation vmdcrtaken by the recipients of National 

 Science Reserve scholarships and fellowships would constitute a real q^iid 

 fro quo and that the Federal Government would be well advised to invest 

 the money involved even if the benefits to the Nation were thought of solely 

 — which they are not — in terms of national preparedness. 



As merit should be the sole basis of selecting the Scholars and Fellows, 

 likewise merit should be the sole basis of their continuing to hold their 

 scholarships and fellowships — 4 years for the Scholars and a maximum of 3 

 years for the Fellows. Unless the Scholars and Fellows maintain good 

 behavior, good health, and scientific progress in the top quarter of their 

 classes, the assistance they are receiving should be terminated. 



The quotas of scholarships to be awarded by the State (and Territorial) 

 committees of selection should be determined by the number of their sec- 

 ondary school graduates of the previous year as related to the national total 

 of such graduates. That is, the national total of 6,000 scholarships would be 

 prorated to the States in the same proportion as their high school graduates 

 bear to the whole national total of such graduates. 



We recommend that the establishment of the organization to operate the 

 plan and its super\'ision be entrusted to the National Academy of Sciences — 

 the top scientific organization of the country and the one which, through the 

 years since its establishment in 1863, has shown itself to have the knowledge, 

 integrity, ability to withstand pressures, and concern for the national welfare, 

 which will be required. 



//. Plans for the Immediate Future 



Because Selective Service policies have not taken account of the Nation's 

 vital needs for scientists and engineers, the training of men in the fields of 

 science and technology during the war has almost completely stopped. Be- 

 cause of these stoppages, not until at least 6 years after the war will scientists 

 trained for research emerge from the graduate schools in any significant 

 quantities. Consequentlv, there is an accumulating deficit in the number of 

 trained research scientists and that deficit will continue for a number of years. 



The deficits of bachelor's degrees in science and technology are already 

 probably about 150,000. 



The deficits of scientific doctoral degrees — that is, of young scholars trained 

 to the point where they are capable of original work — has been estimated, 

 for the period 1941 projected to 1955, to be more than 16,000. 



All patriotic citizens who are informed about these matters agree that, for 

 military security, good public health, full employment, and a higher stand- 

 ard of living after the war, these deficits are very serious. Neither our allies, 

 nor our enemies, permitted any such deficits to develop but on the contrary 

 maintained or increased national programs for the training of scientists and 

 engineers. 



The feasible remedies in the situation, as we find it now, appear to us to 

 be these: 



139 



