Research and National Purpose 



at the image of ONR in the mirror of this record of historical 

 events and guiding principles, let us not yield to the temptation 

 of falling in with an occasionally uttered opinion that all this 

 was just a unique and accidental happening, that it all came 

 about when, in the immediate shadow of World War II, only 

 a military agency — unsuitable as it might otherwise be — had 

 the strength to get it started. There is no contradicting the fact 

 that military contingencies led to laying the foundations for 

 the contemporary dispensation in the area of science and public 

 affairs. However, to think of this as an historical accident would 

 be tantamount to writing off as irrelevant the accumulated ex- 

 perience of one of the most important experiments in which 

 this country has engaged during these last twenty years and 

 which will certainly be meaningfully with us for the remainder 

 of the century. 



In the endeavor of thus bringing together what might be 

 considered outlines and fragments of an intellectual history of 

 Science and the Government in the post-war years — as seen 

 from the vantage point of the Office of Naval Research — ^we 

 have been generously supported by a grant from the Alfred P. 

 Sloan Foundation. Moreover, we are deeply indebted to a large 

 number of people who have given freely of their time and their 

 thought to this effort. There are, first of all, the participants in 

 the program to whom we here convey once more our warmest 

 thanks. There is next the Program Committee which — in addi- 

 tion to Mr. Robert Buchanan, Mr. Robert Mindak, and Mr. 

 Edward McCrensky of the Office of Naval Research — included 

 Dr. John Coleman of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. 

 William Raney of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the 

 Navy for Research and Development, Dr. Randal Robertson 

 of the National Science Foundation, and Dr. David Robinson 

 of the Office of Science and Technology, — to help us shape our 

 final plans and to keep their home offices apprised of them. 

 There are, finally, all those who — under Mr. McCrensky's 

 experienced coordination and the dedicated vigilance of Miss 

 Joan Kazmierski in his, and Mrs. Evelyn Williams in the Chief 



VII 



