Pioneering in Federal Support 

 of Basic Research 



by 

 Dr. Alan T. Waterman 



National Academy of Sciences 



The country owes a debt of gratitude to the Office of Naval 

 Research, a fact of which the country's scientists and engineers 

 are well aware. Its conception arose within the war-time Office 

 of the Coordinator of Research and Development headed by 

 the late Admiral R. A. Furer and his deputy Captain Lybrand 

 Smith, Its immediate purpose was to provide scientific liaison 

 with the War Department and with that novel and highly 

 effective civilian organization, the Office of Scientific Research 

 and Development. The latter, under its brilliant Director, Dr. 

 Vannevar Bush, set a pattern for the broad Federal support of 

 R and D which in much of its essential character still continues. 



It is of course well known that the Federal Government has 

 for years successfully operated research laboratories and has a 

 long and honorable record in support of particular fields, such 

 as agriculture and geology, in the country at large. But the 

 principle which the OSRD pioneered was a wide extension of 

 the traditional military R and D contracting with industry to 

 research establishments in general, and especially to academic 

 institutions. This enabled the Federal Government to obtain 

 the services of the most capable scientists and engineers in 

 the nation, wherever they might be, to do research on weapons 

 and devices of warfare. An essential and unique provision in 

 the OSRD charter was its authority to select individuals and 

 teams for particular research without the requirement of com- 

 petitive bidding. 



