DOCUMENT RESUME ED 052 983 SE 012 118 National Science .

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONSPreambleThe underlying premise of national science policy for two decades has been that continued strength in science and technologyis essential to the welfare of the Nation and its influence and leadership in the world. We believe that policy to be still valid. No onecan guarantee how rapidly scientific knowledge may become applicable to the problems which beset our world. Scientific knowledge alone is not sufficient to ensure that solutions will be foundor implemented. The National Science Board firmly believes, however, that scientific knowledge and understanding are necessary,and that the steady advancement of science is essential if the potential applications of science are to be realized in the most timely,productive, and economical fashion.Therefore, the National Science Board begins by stating what itbelieves to be the basic tenets of United States science policy:a. The United States will strive to remain competitive at ornear the forefront of each of the major areas of science and, tothis end, will continue to identify and support scientific excellence.b. The Nation is committed to the principle that every youngperson should have the opportunity to pursue advanced education to the extent of his ability and motivation irrespective ofgeographic origin or economic means.c. The Federal Government has a responsibility to ensure thatnew scientific knowledge is utilized as rapidly and effectively aspossible in support of national goals and for the welfare of theworld's peoples.The National. Science Board supports and commends efforts bythe scientific community to address major problems of our society.At the same time, the Board is concerned that scientific endeavorsintended to enhance the long-term national future not be sacrificedto the urgencies of the day. Accordingly, the Board recommendsthat future planning for,the total; Federal supportiof science throughall agencies strive to be commensurate with the three tenets above.ix10

,AA clear recognition within the Federal Government that the pursuit of science as a national mission is imperative to the achieve-ment of these ends. The future of the country requires the advancement of science, and the advancement of science explicitlyrequires the advancement of the physical sciences. Many of thefollowing recommendations, however, do not apply solely to thephysical sciences. The more general recommendations are givenfirst.RECOMMENDATIONS1.Excellence in science is a national goal and should beexplicitly so considered by the National Goals ResearchStaff. Further, the National Science Board expresses itsdesire to participate in the preparation of a Governmentwide plan for the realization of this national goal.2.In the continuing process of establishing scientific priorities within the political sector, including actions by theCongress and the Bureau of the Budget, there should bean even greater input by the scientific community througha variety of mechanisms.3. Within the framework established by the political process,there should be assured support of the best research inthe physical sciences and implementation of new ideasand programs of exceptional scientific promise. Thepotential for increase of fundamental understanding is notonly the best criterion of scientific excellence but is alsojust that feature of science which is most likely to lead tonew technology. This principle should continue to play amajor part in setting scientific priorities.4. The Federal Government should expand its programs ofinstitutional and departmental support for graduate education and provide stable levels of support so that academicinstitutions can afford to take the initiative and make thecommitments inherent in educational and research ventures and in supporting young researchers.5. The United States scientific, effort is currently threatenedwith possible mediocrity. Funding limitations currentlyx11

ammonmemmillowrelOPUI.1391.11,711101tleimposed by the Federal Government on scientific researchshould be lifted before the present vitality of the physicalsciences, which is essential to the progress of all science,is lost. Support levels in the physical sciences should bemade comparable to those recommended in the studies ofthe Committee on Science and Public Policy of theNational Academy of Sciences in the fields of astronomy,chemistry, and physics.6. The National Science Foundation is the only Federalagency whose primary mission is the advancement ofscience. Because of this mission, a substantial fraction ofthe necessary increase in research support should bechanneled through the National Science Foundation toprovide greater stability and balance to the total nationaleffort and to give the National' Science Foundation opportunity for greater initiative in the development of researchprograms in the physical sciences.7.All agencies should continue to give special attention toresearch programs in the physical sciences which supportindividual investigators and small groups in such fields aschemistry, solid-state science, atomic and molecularphysics, and the smaller research projects in astronomy,many of which are now underfunded to the point approaching stultification. These programs, which are highly competitive, of prime scientific and technological significance,and particularly adaptable to the training of graduate students in these fields, make an enormous contribution tothe physical sciences and often establish the essentialgroundwork for larger and more complex efforts. It is illadvised to fund such programs at a level at which a majority of high-quality proposals must be rejected or underfunded.8. The acquisition and construction of new instrumentationis the pacing item for research in much of the physicalsciences. Radio astronomy alone requires an investmentof approximately 200 million in major new facilities in thenext ten years. Commensurate efforts must also be madein chemistry, physics, and optical astronomy. Plans formajor new facilities should include realistic long-rangexi12

plans for operating support, including provision for successive generations of auxiliary instrumentation, and forperiodic updating of the equipment. These long-rangeplans should be consistent with the three- to ten-yearperiod required for the design, construction, and bringinginto operation of major facilities.9.Expensive research facilities, including instrumentation,should be established as national or regional resources.Basic responsibility for the creation and operation of suchfacilities can be vested in single institutions or in groupsof institutions. The pattern of users groups, such as thoseoperating in high-energy physics, should be encouragedto spread 'throughout the physical sciences. Federal agencies should be prepared to bear part of the added cost ofutilization of such facilities as a trade-off against duplicating facilities and expensive instrumentation at addi-tional locations. The importance of first-class residentstaffs at all large facilities must not be overlooked. Systemsof peer judgments, however, should be employed at suchfacilities to insure their availability to the best scientistsfor the most significant experiments.10. Federal agencies should continue to review older or lessproductive large facility installations for selective phasingout in order to relieve funds for budding and operating newfacilities which are closer to the forefront of developmentsin scientific techniques and capability. Large facilities,both old and new, should be continually supplied with themost modern sensing and data-processing equipment toassure their optimum use. Such modernization is requisiteeven at the expense of some existing facilities which arestill useful.11. The United States should continue to work for internationalparticipation in the planning and utilization of large re-search facilities, including-exchange'of scientists-and corn-plementarity of programs and equipment.12. The Department of Defense, along with the other missionoriented agencies, notably the Atomic Energy Commission,the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, andxis

the National Institutes of Health, should continue to support basic research in all areas of the physical scienceswhich show reasonable promise of having a bearing ontheir missions. The National Science Foundation shouldbe provided with funds to assume support for those worth-while ongoing research programs for which missionoriented agencies may no longer be able to provide continuing support because of fiscal reasons or change inmission emphasis.13. The present trend to decrease funding for the scientificaspects of the space program should be reversed. Provisions should also be made for more active participationby academic scientists in these programs, including adequate funding of the academic research groups. Fundingmust be assured also for supporting research and technology in physics, chemistry, and espeIally in optical andradio astronomy in order to ensure the greatest scientificpayoff from the space capability. It is urgent to upgradethe scientific programs associated with future lunar landings, including the subsequent analyses of mission dataand lunar samples.14. The universities should intensify their efforts to adapt theirgraduate programs to the changing needs of industry,Government, and the educational system. Special consideration should be given both to the time requirements forthe doctorate and to the establishment of "practitionersdegrees" at the doctoral level in the physical sciences.15. Additional and more effective ways should be found forindustry, Government, and universities to cooperate intranslating basic science into social utility and in openingup for basic research the new areas which are often suggested by technological problems.16. An effort should be' made to utilize more industrial andGovernment scientists on advisory panels which help select research projects for Federal support and on advisorycommittees which help develop national science policy.14

REFERENCES TO THE TEXTThe following listing contains appropriate references to the textfor the several recommendations:Recommendation 2; pp. 35-38Recommendation 3; p. 38; pp. 55-56Recommendation 4; pp. 41-45; "Toward a Public Policy for GraduateEducation in the Sciences," National Science Board, 1969Rec6mmendation 5; pp. 35-45Recommendation 6; pp. 49-50; p. 54Recommendation 7; pp. 39-40Recommendation 8; pp. 39-40; pp. 55-56Recommendation 9; pp. 51-54Recommendation 10; p. 52Recommendation 11; p. 56Recommendation 12; pp. 49-51; p. 54Recommendation 13; pp. 56-57Recommendation 14; pp. 45-47Recommendation 15; pp. 46 -51; pp. 58-60xiv

State of the Physical SciencesIn 1969, for the first time, man left the protection of the earthand landed on the moon. Whenever mankind looks back on thehistory of his achievements, this year will date that banner event.Why can this generation go to the moon when earlier ones couldnot? The answer is that man has accumulated a sufficient knowledge of the physical universe, an adequate control over the forcesof nature, and a suitable technological and industrial enterprise toenable him to build and operate the instruments and vehiclesneeded. Solid-state computers solve the necessary problems incelestial mechanics and in orbit theory with great rapidity andreliability. The knowledge of how atoms interact with one anotherto form molecules enables chemists to produce exotic fuels whosereactions give rockets enormous thrusts that can still be delicatelycontrolled. A knowledge of the properties of solids permits theproduction of materials which will withstand the forces and temperatures to which they are subjected in rockets and other spacevehicles. Man's understanding allows him to design space vehicleswhich pass through the earth's atmosphere at escape speeds and todeal with such potential hazards to the space traveler as the solarwind and magnetic storms. Apollo 11 was, in this sense, a culmination of 400 years of progress in science as well as in technology.Though man's flight to the moon assures 1969 a place in history,it will have several rivals for the position of the outstanding eventof this century. The twentieth century will be known also as thatage in which man discovered and learned to use nuclear energy.It will be known as the age in which the physics of the electron wasemployed to produce a communication system that allowed meno-secendhear onc another wherever they might be on the-earth,or in space beyond the earth, and to produce high-speed computerswhich enabled men to utilize their brains in the same way thatmachines have made it possible for them to extend their brawn. Itwill be known as the. age of chemical synthesis, when man, first inthe laboratory, then in huge chemical plants, tailored molecules to116

fit his own purposes by rearranging atoms to produce materialswith a variety of useful and pleasing properties undreamed of inearlier times. From these materials have come his clothing andfishing lines, his detergents and lubricants, his medicines, and evenhis food. It will be known as the time when man eradicated, orbrought under control, many of the diseases which had plaguedhim throughout his history. We hope that the twentieth centurymay even yet be known as the one in which man finally eradicatedhunger, in which he learned to control his population, to conservehis environment, and, most deeply, to live without war.A. THE UNIVERSEBy 1969 the scientist has done more than demonstrate the application of his science. The vast laboratory of the universe is nowmore accessible to the scientist, and it presents him with a muchextended array of physical and chemical circumstances. The gravitational force is mild on the earth but exceedingly strong near thedense and massive stars. The stars form galaxies and clusters ofgalaxies, which are the largest systems known to man. Starlight isgenerated by the interaction of nuclear particles, which are thesmallest systems known to man. In the astronomical universe,temperatures range from a few degrees in intergalactic space tobillions of degrees in the interior of stars. Densities range from afew atoms per cubic meter in space to more than 1015 times thedensity of ordinary terrestrial materials in neutron stars. Particleenergies in the cosmic radiation extend at least to 1022 times theenergy characteristic of molecules in air at ordinary temperatures.The study of matter and energy under these natural extremes andrelating the results to those found in the much narrower range ofthe earth-bound laboratory are the joint domain of astronomy,physics, and chemistry.Both in space and on earth, man's ability to observe nature withhigh precision end milder extreme conditions presents .the ph.ysicalscientist with the most critical tests of his theories. The questionshe faces are ever more 'difficult, and the means of answering areever more complex and subtle. His attempts at understanding maybe frustrating. If history is a guide, however, further developmentof our civilization will depend in part upon his success, and rich217

imommonersermIRVIVOMMIIrewards will come to those peoples and nations whose scientistssucceed.Currently there is a scientific explosion in astronomy and astrophysics. The last decade has seen the discovery of "quasars" and"pulsars," X-ray stars and neutron stars, cosmic background radiations and cosmic-gas masers, infrared stars and infrared radiationfrom many cosmic sources, gamma-ray and neutrino astronomy,transuranic elements in cosmic rays and complex molecules ininterstellar matter, and contemporary synthesis in matter ejectedfrom stars. The detection of gravitational radiation from sourcesoutside the earth has been reported. The rapid pace of discoveryin astronomy and astrophysics during the last few years has giventhis field an excitement unsurpassed in any other area of the physi-cal sciences. During the seventeenth century Newton's law ofgravitation provided the major influence on the physical sciences.In the nineteenth century Mendeleev's periodic table filled thatrole. But today the investigation of these many recent major astronomical discoveries may provide a similar influence on the physical sciences. The current significant discoveries in the other physical sciences are, to a large extent, unanticipated consequences ofknown physcial principles and are fitted into a generally acceptable pattern of theory and experience. The new discoveries in astronomy have presented deeper mysteries and hints of physicalprocesses more unusual than anything observed in the laboratoryor predicted by current theory.1. QUASARSThe discovery in 1963 of quasars created a revolution in theoutlook of astronomers. The universe suddenly appeared moreviolent than had been conceived before. The vast energy production which the quasars appear to show cannot easily be accountedfor by presently known energy-producing processes. The spectrumof their light is distorted in a puzzling fashion. Is this distortiondue to the expansion of the universe? If so, quasars must be tentimes farther away than the farthest galaxies previously observed. Or, does its origin lie in the intense gravitational fieldaround the quasar? Or, is a quasar a much closer object that hasbeen ejected with a speed almost that of light froin the interior ofa nearby galaxy? Even to approach these questions, one must use3373-722 0 - 70 - 218

the viewpoint of Einstein's general theory of relativity. Twentyyears ago that theory was regarded as the intellectual culminationof physical theory. Now it is the essential starting point for experiment and observation.2. RELATIVITY1Our new ability to operate delicate instruments deep in spaceand our improved techniques for observing astronomical eventswith ground-based instruments offer us an opportunity to applydefinitive experimental tests to the general theory of relativity.These experiments will involve such activities as the precise observation of the motion of extremely stable gyroscopes in earthorbit, refined detection and analysis of gravitational waves, andradar measurements of minute changes in the motion of the planets. Scientists in several United States laboratories are now engaged in the design and development of the sophisticated instrumentation needed for such measurements. Prototypes and testmodels of individual components are presently being constructed.The actual experiments usually will require very large installations, such as giant radio telescopes, or complicated space missions, as in the case of the gyroscope experiment. But if man is toachieve a fundamental understanding of gravity, such experimentsmust

DOCUMENT RESUME ED 052 983 SE 012 118 AUTHOR Handler, Philip TITLE The Physical Sciences. Report of the National. Science Board Submitted to the Congress. INSTITUTION National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. National Science Board. PUB DATE. 70. NOTE. 77p. AVAILABLE FROM Superin