Science and Public Policy: Promises and Constraints 57 



Let me turn now to what might be called sec- 

 Secondary ondary constraints within our system. In using 

 Constraints the term "secondary" I do not want to imply that 

 such constraints are unimportant. To many 

 working scientists they will seem far more relevant or im- 

 mediate than the issues I have already discussed. 



First, we know that there is an increasing spirit of competi- 

 tion between "big science" and "independent science." For 

 example, many solid state physicists and chemists feel that the 

 money being given to the space program and to high energy 

 physics is depriving them of rudimentary support for exceed- 

 ingly important work connected with the education of students 

 at the doctorate level and the orderly advance of fields of sci- 

 ence that have been enormously fruitful in the past and will 

 continue to be in the future. The factors involved are, of 

 course, rather complex. One cannot hope to explore Mars in 

 detail or to gain further understanding of the fundamental 

 particles of which matter is composed without having exceed- 

 ingly expensive devices. In contrast, one can always get along 

 one more year with older equipment if one is working in chem- 

 istry or solid state physics, even though the unit cost of new 

 equipment is relatively low. Moreover, one must recognize that 

 a Congressman may well receive much more credit if a single 

 large installation is established in his district than he will if the 

 equivalent amount of money is distributed over many labora- 

 tories. I believe the answer to this problem lies in patience and 

 eloquence. The independent investigator is vital to science — he 

 must take the time to tell his story clearly and eloquently with 

 the expectation that those who govern our country will even- 

 tually listen. 



Another issue that introduces constraints into 

 Geographical our system is the matter of geographical distri- 

 Distribution bution, now of major concern in Congress. 



Quite apart from whether or not one believes 

 that geographical imbalance is good or bad — and much has 

 been said on both sides of this issue — the fact remains that 



