LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 



Dr. Vannevar Bush, Director, 



Office of Scientific Research and Development, 



1530 P Street, NW., Washington, D. C. 



January 9, 1945. 



IMy Dear Dr. Bush: 



It is my pleasure to submit herewith the report of the Committee appointed 

 to assist vou in answering the first question in President Roosevelt's letter to 

 vou of November 17, 1944, which was expressed as follows: 



"First: What can be done, consistent with military security, and with 

 the prior approval of the military authorities, to make known to the 

 world as soon as possible the contributions which have been made dur- 

 ing our war effort to scientific knowledge? 



"The diffusion of such knowledge should help us to stimulate new 

 enterprises, provide jobs for our returning servicemen and other 

 workers, and make possible great strides for the improvement of the 

 national well-being." 



In preparing the report the members of the Committee had the benefit of 

 discussions with a number of persons concerned with the publication of 

 scientific information. There has been general agreement that one of the 

 primary problems in the field of pubUcation is the establishment of an agency 

 which, as a general principle, will permit the release of scientific information 

 as soon as it can no longer be used against us in the present war and on terms 

 which will be fair to all concerned. In particular, speed of release should be 

 accompanied by a mechanism which will lift the restrictions on publication 

 in a particular field uniformly for all workers in that field, regardless of the 

 particular agency of the Government for which the work might originally 

 have been done. The Committee feels strongly that this mechanism should 

 be established without any unnecessary delay. 



Sincerely yours, 



Irvin Stewart, 

 Chairman, Committee on Publication 



of Scientific Information 



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