l8 ORGANIZING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOR WAR 



Origin of Projects 



The one project specifically assigned to the Committee by the President 

 was that of "the possible relationship to national defense of recent discov- 

 eries in the field of atomistics, notably the fission of uranium." A committee 

 on this subject which had previously been set up by the President was 

 directed by him to report to the NDRC. . r v f 



The Committee received a flying start by the submission to it ot lists ot 

 projects upon which the Services were engaged, together with lists of other 

 projects which the Services thought were important but which they had 

 neither funds nor manpower to handle. Those lists were studied by Comp- 

 ton, the projects were apportioned among the NDRC divisions, and hrst 



attention was paid to them. 



From the outset, NDRC asserted the right to exercise an independent 

 judgment as to the projects which it should start as well as the method of 

 attack upon them. Although the Committee was established to aid the 

 Army and the Navy, it insisted that the method of rendering that assistance 

 was for its own decision. Thus, upon occasion it refused to undertake a 

 particular piece of research requested by the Services because of its feeling 

 That the manpower required could be better spent on more important 

 projects or on those more likely to succeed. Conversely, upon occasion the 

 NDRC initiated and supported projects in spite of the indifference or even 

 over the opposition of the Services. Many of its projects were initiated 

 without support from the Army and Navy, although for most of these the 

 support of the Services was forthcoming later. In most cases, however, work 

 undertaken by NDRC was at the direct request of either the Army, the 



Navy or both. , , . i 



Clearly the Services were in a good position to know their own weaknesses 

 and therefore to indicate places where results were needed. This was recog- 

 nized by the Committee and every attempt was made to accomplish results 

 requested by the Services. Similarly, when scientists working with the Com- 

 mittee felt that particular scientific techniques or developments might have 

 military applications, they were brought to the attention of appropriate 

 military authorities in an effort, usually successful, to stir up Service interest 

 in such developments. 



Problems of Contract 



The decision that the Committee would not engage direcdy in research 

 made the development of an effective contract essential. Research presup- 

 poses the possibility of failure and a research contract should recognize that 

 fact An exploration of the unknown carries an inherent possibihty that the 



