BASIC RESEARCH IN THE UNITED STATES 



It is essential to recognize that there are two aspects of basic 

 research, depending upon who is viewing it. 



From the point of view of the research worker himself basic 

 research is research motivated by curiosity and interest, carried out 

 because it promises to add to knowledge, and without any neces- 

 sary interest in or concern for the practical applicability of any 

 results that may be obtained. 



Nevertheless it is most strikingly and emphatically true that 

 basic research is not impractical research. The whole history of 

 science constitutes a most impressive proof of this statement. And 

 a research administrator, informed as to the history of research 

 and aware of the interrelationships between various fields of 

 science and various fields of application, can, concerning a given 

 bodv of basic research activity, reasonably make judgments con- 

 cerning probable practicality, these being judgments which may 

 be quite foreign if not meaningless to the individuals actually 

 doing the research. 



Thus it is quite obvious if one is interested in, say, the develop- 

 ment of new materials which will maintain strength at high 

 temperatures, that there are certain areas of pure research which 

 have probable relevance to such problems, and other areas which 

 are clearly unlikely to yield results useful for this purpose. 



Thus, without in any way abandoning or contradicting the con- 

 cept of basic research as viewed by the researcher, the research 

 administrator can discriminate between various areas of basic re- 

 search, and can sensibly judge that certain of these general areas 

 have a high probability of producing results useful for given pur- 

 poses, while others have a verv low probability. In other words, 

 having a field of application in mind, it is meaningful and sensible 

 for a research administrator, without in any way influencing the 

 creative atmosphere within which the researcher himself operates, 

 to judge that certain areas of basic research have, with high proba- 

 bility, relevance to his practical interests. 



What I have just said applies to any typical government 

 agency with a practical mission, such as defense or health. But 

 in justifying basic research on these grounds, as government 

 support grows, one soon gets an uneasy feeling that all will 



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