422 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1946 
independence. Though wartime science went from one triumph to 
another, it must be remembered that peacetime research will be meas- 
ured by different criteria. During the war the cooperation of re- 
search men was a patriotic duty, and the cost of projects was entirely 
secondary to speed and to success in solving problems. In times of 
peace the cost of research programs will become a matter of major 
importance and one for annual discussion. 
The results of research touching individual or national well-being 
should be given the widest distribution. This should be the standard 
method not only of diffusing useful knowledge but also of reporting 
progress. Used intelligently, it will make unnecessary the collection 
of multiple reports, questionnaires, forms, and records, which at best 
accomplish little more than to delay the work and drive out those in- 
vestigators who prefer research to the piecemeal discussion of it. 
Publication of results should be prompt and full, and adequate distri- 
bution should be made nationally and internationally. This will 
serve not only to speed research but also to prevent needless duplica- 
tion of effort. 
Whether publication should be undertaken in more than one lan- 
guage is problematical. I should incline to advocate that each nation 
publish in its own language and leave to an international catalog and 
abstracting service the task of furnishing abstracts and serving as 
a clearinghouse for providing translations in such languages as may 
be requested. This would be no great change from the International 
Catalogue of Scientific Literature, which, after years of effective serv- 
ice to science, suffered so grievously from the first World War that it 
never recovered. If the nations truly wish to cooperate, let them 
resurrect this useful service with such changes as the needs of the 
present day may require. 
Although our discussion has been concerned largely with the national 
aspects of such a research program, there are many who will regard 
it as only one part of a larger problem. The real objective of this 
undertaking for the increased use of science depends largely on who 
happens to be explaining its purpose. To one, science may insure 
national security; to another, it may mean the economic welfare of 
the nation; while a third might look at the world and see international 
cooperation and understanding and enduring peace. Science utilized 
more widely can raise the standard of living in America, it can provide 
jobs, it can turn the wheels of industry and fill ships with exports. It 
can increase the comforts of individuals; and, as far as weapons may 
be concerned, it will certainly increase the security of our Nation. All 
this, however, is the answer to only a part of the question as it affects 
Americans. Our welfare over any long period is related to the wel- 
fare of other peoples, for now as never before poverty and misery in 
one part of the world affect the prosperity and well-being in all parts 
