Science

Vannevar Bush, an "engineer's engineer" and early pioneer in computer development, was President Roosevelt's science advisor during World War II. He served brilliantly in that task, and among other activities set up the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. Asked by President Roosevelt to prepare a plan for the postwar deployment of science for peace (some say he "enginee...

Vannevar Bush, an "engineer's engineer" and early pioneer in computer development, was President Roosevelt's science advisor during World War II. He served brilliantly in that task, and among other activities set up the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. Asked by President Roosevelt to prepare a plan for the postwar deployment of science for peace (some say he "engineered" that request from Roosevelt) he published (after Roosevelt's death) Science: The Endless Frontier. In this book he advocated for a National Science Foundation and a program for funding of basic research in leading U.S. universities. A well-known and respected figure, Bush (no relation to the presidential Bush family) Bush politicked vigorously and eventually gained a watered-down version of the National Science Foundation. His curious insistence that research support avoid applied science or practical ends became firmly established, however.

The new science paradigm (which I describe in a book to be published this year by the Springer Co) contributed to a huge boom in U.S. academic research departments. An unanticipated result was the massive proliferation of disciplinary research and publication (the "publish or perish syndrome"), which might use real problems of society as a subject of inquiry, but which became largely circulated within academic "invisible colleges". Bush himself became disillusioned with the results of his initiatives by the 1960s.

Since then the main Bush thesis, that basic research will spur technical innovation and have other valuable benefits for society has been countered by events and many studies but still has strong influence on U.S. academic and Congressional funding policies. Its worst effect, the placing of a stigma on applied research and development is gradually being changed, but has had serious indirect effects in causing some of the nation's best talent to become locked in the ivory tower.

In short, this book by Bush shows both the enormous potential influence of ideas on society - but also the dangers of hubris. Zachary points out that there was already plenty of evidence in the 1940s that the "basic research leads to applications" linear thesis was wrong. In fact,19th Century German science - which created whole new subfields of chemistry in the course of searching for new synthetic pharmaceutical products, dyes, and useful inorganic compounds, had shown that the opposite to the linear basic research concept was more valid. Bush's influence imposed an unwise policy on the nation.

范内瓦·布什（Vannevar Bush）

美国伟大的科学家和工程师之一。

“曼哈顿计划”的提出者和执行人，指导了第一颗原子弹试验和日本原子弹投射。又被尊称为“信息时代的教父”，信息论之父香农是他的学生。

其应罗斯福总统要求写就的《科学，无尽的前沿》规划了战后美国科学发展的蓝图，依据他的提议设立的科研机构和执行的科技政策保证了美国在尖端科技领域的长期领先地位。

拉什·D·霍尔特(Rush D. Holt)

美国科学促进会前首席执行官