DAEL WOLFLE 



would have happened if?" What would have happened if 

 Rontgen had had to secure a foundation grant to support his 

 work? In the first place, he would have heen unable to describe 

 clearly what he was setting out to do, for he did not know. His 

 necessarily indefinite proposal would have been referred to a 

 panel of reviewers, and an inappropriate panel at that, for there 

 was no panel on x rays. The reviewers would have done a 

 conscientious job, and quite possibly they would have decided 

 that Rontgen was a good enough man to be supported in what- 

 ever research he considered worth doing. On the other hand, 

 the proposal might well have been rejected, for the reviewers 

 would also have been considering proposals that were closer to 

 their own scientific interests and that seemed likely to meet 

 some of the apparent needs of contemporary science. 



Committees stress the traditional and already known fields 

 of research. They have to. But the most advanced and creative 

 scholars are out in front of the traditional fields, exploring the 

 borders of the still unknown. There are not many such pioneers, 

 but they have an importance out of all proportion to their 

 number. 



The Key Is Creative Men 



The one completely indispensable element in basic re- 

 search is a scientist with an idea. He can be helped by the 

 equipment and services that money will buy but he can never 

 be replaced. In James Fisk's words, "basic new scientific ideas 

 come from individual scientists and not from 'manpower.' 



The large amount of agreement with this point of view 

 laid the basis for vigorous discussion of Merle Tuve's proposal 

 that "we should make it clear to Congress and to the public 

 that the whole basic record of scientific progress has been made 

 by individual men who could spend their time freely on the 

 scientific problems which puzzled them. I see no valid reason 



266 



