PREFACE 



You asked us to advise you upon the fourth question of President Roose- 

 velt's letter to you concerning future scientific development in the United 

 States. The question is: 



Can an effective program be proposed for discovering and developing scientific talent 

 in American youth so that the continuing future of scientific research in this country 

 may be assured on a level comparable to what has been done during the war? 



In our judgment the answer to the question is in all respects in the 

 affirmative. We conclude also that the program envisaged by the question 

 is both necessary and desirable. The difficult questions are upon the neces- 

 sary and desirable extent of such a program and upon the best means for 

 its accomplishment. 



Our report, accordingly, will be under three heads: the necessity, the 

 extent and the means for making the envisaged program effective. 



There are, however, some general considerations which we deem it well 

 to place before you prior to proceeding to the body of this report. 



President Roosevelt's letter to you looks toward a science that will be a 

 decisive element in the national welfare in peace as it has been in war. He 

 said, "New frontiers of the mind are before us, and if they are pioneered 

 with the same vision, boldness, and drive with which we have waged this 

 war we can create a fuller and more fruitful employment and a fuller and 

 a more fruitful life. " It is clear that the letter refers to science as the word 

 is commonlv understood, or, more technically described, to science now 

 within the purview of the National Academy of Sciences, that is, to mathe- 

 matics, the phvsical and biological sciences including psychology, geology, 

 geography and anthropologv and their engineering, industrial, agricultural 

 and medical applications. To science in this sense, therefore, the recom- 

 mendations in this report will be limited. 



The statesmanship of science, however, requires that science be concerned 

 with more than science. Science can only be an effective element in the 

 national welfare as a member of a team, whether the condition be peace 

 or war. 



As citfzens, as 'good citizens, we therefore think that we must have in 

 mind while examining the question before us — the discovery and develop- 

 ment of scientific talent — the needs of the whole national welfare. We 

 could not suggest to you a program which would syphon into science and 



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