Perspectives on Naval Research 127 



support of the Federal Government, would ensure the choices 

 our nation would require to pursue an effective course of de- 

 velopment along the lines which history had prescribed. The 

 key word in this sentence is "choice." With his keen insight, 

 Vannevar Bush drew this perspective correctly; but in the inter- 

 vening twenty years many have lost sight of the fact that sci- 

 entific research does not make technological development and 

 does not produce the tools for solving national problems: all it 

 does is offer choices for doing this. The solid state physics re- 

 search for which the Office of Naval Research supplied im- 

 petus during the late 40's and early 50's offered us options, 

 of which some, like the technology of producing ampli- 

 fiers for hearing aids or the technology of building lightweight, 

 very compact computers, were adopted with vigor, while others 

 have been allowed to lie fallow. With equal clarity the report 

 outlined the conditions under which universities would accept 

 indispensable support by the Federal Government and traced 

 the manner in which such support should be administered by 

 governmental agencies. 



The Bush Report most persuasively induced the Congress to 

 make unprecedented appropriations for the support of research. 

 The Office of Naval Research resulted from the first suc- 

 cessful Congressional action implementing the Bush Report. 

 Another five years had to elapse before it was possible 

 to take the broader step of establishing the National Science 

 Foundation for the general support of the basic sciences. Other 

 steps followed, and we can unequivocally state that universities 

 and agencies of the Federal Government have been successfully 

 able to follow the guidelines which Vannevar Bush's report set 

 out in 1945. Under them, we have developed administrative 

 tools and institutional arrangements of great variety. We have 

 developed understanding and support for research, not only 

 within government but amongst the public, and the universi- 

 ties have developed a particularly effective ne^v style of gradu- 

 ate education in the sciences which was made possible by the 

 kinds of support that became available. As a consequence. 



