science: handmaiden of freedom 



Our early statesmen, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and 

 Adams, all sought to find ways by which the new Republic 

 eould sponsor learning and promote the progress of science and 

 the useful arts. The founders of the American political system 

 clearly believed that the secrets of nature must be better known 

 so that they might be used to advance the welfare of all our 

 people. 



While, under the stimulus of practical need, the applica- 

 tion of science to problems of production and growth became 

 accepted practice in our young, vigorous, and rapidly growing 

 societv, the uninformed often referred in slurring terms to what 

 they called the "impractical scholar." Fortunately, we have 

 come far from that point. We have done much in overcoming 

 this misunderstanding. We have learned that the apparently 

 visionary researcher is likely to produce unexpectedly practical 

 results. Witness the work of such scientists as Faraday, Pasteur, 

 Gibbs, Einstein, Fermi, and von Neumann. 



Basic science, of course, is the essential underpinning of 

 applied research and development. It represents the frontier 

 where exploration and discovery begin. Moreover, achievements 

 in basic research, adding as they do to man's fundamental 

 understanding, have a quality of universality that goes beyond 

 any limited or local application or limitation of time. Eventu- 

 ally, those discoveries benefit all mankind. 



Today, the American record in basic research is becoming 

 no less brilliant than in applied science. The past fifty years 

 have seen a remarkable growth of graduate schools of science 

 and other types of research institutions. Since World War II 

 scientists working in the United States have won more than 

 half of all the Nobel prizes awarded in the physical sciences. 

 If we can continue to cultivate our strength and achievement 

 in this field of basic research, we shall greatly enhance our 

 capacity to defend ourselves, and simultaneously advance our 



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