presentations

Restoring the Foundation: Reviving the U.S. Science, Engineering and Technology Enterprise

n April 30, 2015, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy hosted a Civic Scientist Lecture on Restoring the Foundation: Reviving the U.S. Science, Engineering and Technology Enterprise, featuring Norman R. Augustine O(Cochair of the Academy’s Restoring the Foundation report; retired Chairman and ceo of Lockheed Martin Corpo- ration; and former Under Secretary of the United States Army) and Steven Chu (William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University; and former U.S. Secretary of Energy). Neal Lane (Cochair of the Academy’s Restoring the Foundation report; and Senior Fellow in Science and Technology Policy at Rice Uni- versity) moderated the discussion. The program also included a welcome from Academy President Jonathan F. Fanton. The following is an edited transcript of the discussion.

elcome to Rice University and to middle and high schools, reaching more WRice University’s Baker Institute for than 1,500 students. Public Policy and today’s Civic Scientist The Civic Scientist Program would not Lecture. This evening we will hear from be possible without the generous support two of the nation’s best-known and most of our sponsors. The program has received distinguished civic scientists, Steven Chu enthusiastic support from Rice, specifically and Norman Augustine. from the Brown School of Engineering, the This evening’s lecture is part of the Baker Wiess School of Natural Sciences, and the Institute’s Civic Scientist Program, one of Department of Physics and Astronomy– the institute’s Science and Technology Pol- all of which are co-organizers for tonight’s icy initiatives, which highlights outstand- event. I want to give special thanks to Ben- ing scientists and engineers and technical jamin and Winifer Cheng for their consider- professionals who, in addition to making able support of the program and to Shell Oil significant contributions in their fields, also Company for supporting this lecture series, devote a portion of their careers to public which is part of the Baker Institute Shell service, either by serving in government or in Distinguished Lecture Series. In addition, Neal Lane other ways engaging the public and policy- this special event is being jointly sponsored Neal Lane is Senior Fellow in Science and Tech- makers on the important role of science, by the Baker Institute Center for Energy nology Policy at the Baker Institute for Public engineering, and technology in American Studies, its Science and Technology Pro- Policy, Malcolm Gillis University Professor society. A goal of our program is to encour- gram, and the American Academy of Arts age others to follow the example of our civic and Sciences. Emeritus, and Professor of Physics and Astron- scientists and more generally to promote a Last September the Academy published a omy Emeritus at Rice University. He is former dialogue to help bridge what seems to still report entitled Restoring the Foundation: The Assistant to the President for Science and Tech- be a gap in our society between science and Vital Role of Research in Preserving the American nology, former Director of the White House rational public policy-making. Dream. The report is a call to the public, busi- Office of Science and Technology Policy, and We are endeavoring to spread the word ness leaders, community leaders, and policy- former Director of the National Science Foun- about the link between science and technol- makers at all levels to recognize that the dis- dation. He was elected a Fellow of the American ogy and the public good through both this coveries that come out of basic research in Academy in 1995 and serves as Cochair of the lecture series and our K–12 school outreach all fields of science, engineering, and med- Academy’s Restoring the Foundation report. program, which is coordinated with Rice icine are vital to the development of new University’s larger outreach effort. Last year knowledge, new innovative technologies, we sent dozens of scientists and engineers, new diagnostics and cures, new industries, including both of today’s speakers, to local new jobs, and the economy as a whole.

10 Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Summer 2015 restoring the foundation

Our first speaker this evening is a one- station when I was director of the National of-a-kind aeronautical engineer, Norman Science Foundation. Norm also led the Augustine. He is the author of several books, National Research Council study Rising including a funny book on management above the Gathering Storm, which warned of called Augustine’s Laws. Born in Colorado, the nation’s loss of leadership in science, he went to Princeton, where he received a technology, and innovation and has been degree in aeronautical engineering and later one of the National Academy of Sciences’ served on the faculty there as a lecturer with most influential reports. the rank of professor. He enjoyed a long, dis- Norm has a long list of honors, including tinguished career in the aerospace industry, election to the American Academy of Arts capping it off as President, ceo, and Chair- and Sciences, the American Philosophi- man of Lockheed Martin. In the 1970s, Mr. cal Society, and the National Academy of

Restoring the Foundation: The Vital Role of Research in Preserving the American Dream is a call to the public, business leaders, community leaders, and policy-makers at all levels to recognize that the dis- coveries that come out of basic research in all fields of science, engineering, and medicine are vital to the development of new knowledge, new innovative tech- nologies, new diagnostics and cures, new industries, new jobs, and the economy as a whole.

Augustine served in the federal government Engineering, where he served as chairman. as Under Secretary–and, at one point, act- In 1997, he received the National Medal of ing Secretary–of the Army. Technology. Throughout his career he has advised I have had the pleasure of cochairing with universities, companies, government agen- Norm the American Academy of Arts and cies, the White House, Congress, and other Sciences Study Committee that created the organizations. He served on the President’s Restoring the Foundation report you will hear Council of Advisers on Science and Tech- about this evening, and I personally benefit- nology for all sixteen years of the Bill Clin- ted from his wisdom, intelligence, political ton and George W. Bush administrations. savvy, and humor. We are delighted to have He has chaired influential blue-ribbon Norm with us today. advisory committees on topics as varied as energy, national domestic security, the future of the U.S. space program, and the U.S. Antarctic program. I am personally grateful to Norm for helping me convince Congress to fund a new South Pole research

Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Summer 2015 11 presentations

Basic research is endangered because it is the most difficult form of research to defend outside of the research community itself.

National Academy of Sciences, National Weddell seals under the ice pack in Ant- Academy of Engineering, and the Institute arctica. The question was asked about this of Medicine. Among the twenty recom- research, “What does that have to do with mendations we made, the top one had to do any taxpayer?” According to the witness’s with education, the second had to do with testimony, what they learned during that research–despite this being a study not of research project is now helping save the research and education but of America’s lives of thousands of children undergoing economic competitiveness. respiratory surgery. When we began work on Restoring the Who else should care about the well- Foundation, we were particularly interested being and the health of research in Amer- in research, thanks in part to the Gathering ica? Well, almost anyone who wants to have Norman R. Augustine Storm report. We ended up focusing on basic a job. Surveys conducted around the world Norman R. Augustine is retired Chairman and research, because basic research is probably asking what is the most important factor in Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin the most endangered form of research, yet is determining your well-being overwhelm- Corporation. He is also former Under Secretary arguably the most important. ingly find the answer is “to have a good Basic research is endangered because it is job.” And what does it take to create jobs? of the U.S. Army. He was elected a Fellow of the most difficult form of research to defend The first step is to grow the gross domestic the American Academy in 1992 and serves as outside of the research community itself. I product. To increase the number of jobs Cochair of the Academy’s Restoring the Foun- have tried mightily many times, particularly in America by one percentage point, you dation report. on Capitol Hill. The trouble is that even have to add about 1.7 percentage points to those performing purely curiosity-driven the gdp. But where does that latter growth e started work on Restoring the Foun- research cannot say what benefit will be come from? Well, numerous studies, one Wdation by talking about the American derived from their efforts. of which led to a Nobel Prize, show that up Dream, which has inspired so many people Another difficulty in trying to defend such to 87 percent of gdp growth in this coun- not only in America but throughout the research is that the average person frequently try comes from advances in just two closely world. I myself have lived the American doesn’t connect his or her personal well-being related disciplines: science and technology. Dream. Nobody in my family ever had the with what scientists in white robes are doing Yet only 5 percent of the workforce in Amer- opportunity to go to college. Only one had in the back of some laboratory. Why is this ica are scientists or engineers! The import- gone to high school. My wife has lived the important to me, they ask? The fact, of course, ant thing is that these individuals create a American Dream to a far greater extent. She is that it is terribly important, but much of the disproportionate number of jobs compared came to America on a boat from Scandina- public doesn’t seem to realize that. to the other 95 percent. By my calculations, via alone when she was nineteen years old I recall one congressional hearing where the multiplier for engineers in job creation with two suitcases, $50, and a job she found a major argument took place about research is almost ten to one. in the New York Times want ads. The concern being conducted on the color and chemis- Who else might care about the health of of the Academy committee was that today try of butterfly wings, which some members the research enterprise? Without the build- the American Dream is very brittle and in thought was a waste of money. Well, out of ing blocks that scientists provide from basic existential danger. That was what brought that study unexpectedly came an ingredient research, engineers could not address such many of us together to work on this study. used in the treatment of cancer. problems as providing clean, sustainable Almost a decade earlier, I had worked on At another hearing I sat beside a witness energy; preserving the environment; pro- the Gathering Storm study conducted by the who had been studying the behavior of viding national security; and much more.

12 Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Summer 2015 restoring the foundation

That would be like asking engineers to build So if research and technology are so What about industry, which is a major a wall without providing bricks. important, how are we doing in this country beneficiary of basic research? The U.S. Then there are, of course, those of us in at supporting them? One of the measures government used to fund two-thirds of the this room who would not be alive today used in the Academy’s report is the percent- r&d conducted in this country while indus- were it not for the accomplishments of the age of gdp devoted to research, sometimes try funded most of the other one-third. As research enterprise. When my parents were referred to as research intensity. A couple of government reduced its investment over the born, the life expectancy in America was decades ago, the United States ranked first years, that ratio has flipped. forty-seven years. When they passed on, it in this measure. Today we are seventh. In The problem is that industry mostly was seventy-nine years. Much of that gain the case of research and development, we funds “D” and not “R.” And while I don’t can be attributed to work that took place in have fallen from first to tenth place. Even an agree that this is a sound long-term strategy, research laboratories in universities, in gov- organization as highly regarded by the pub- industry does have a very good reason for ernment and elsewhere. A large part of the lic as the National Institutes of Health has doing what it does: most of today’s share- gain was of course the result of reductions seen its budget cut by 22 percent in real dol- holders own a given company’s stock for in infant mortality, but that made it no less lars the last few years, offsetting an earlier an average of four months, and they have important to people like my sister, who died effort to increase its resources. little interest in seeing their money spent shortly after she was born. Then there are those of us who care about today’s lifestyle. Without basic research we Numerous studies show that up to 87 percent of wouldn’t have computers or global position- GDP growth in this country comes from advances ing systems or global communications or tvs or weather satellites to warn of storms. in just two closely related disciplines: science and Consider Apple, which deserves great credit for the iPod, the iPad, and the iPhone. But technology. Yet only 5 percent of the workforce in it wasn’t Apple that made these products America are scientists or engineers! possible. The things Apple produces today that create jobs for so many people and add to one’s lifestyle were made possible The enabling question is who should fund on things that won’t have an impact for by scientists working decades ago in fields research. another ten years. In contrast, when I first such as solid-state physics and quantum Our universities, particularly our great entered the business world the retention mechanics. Presumably they had no inkling state universities, perform much of the period was eight years. of the profound impact their work would research that is accomplished, so perhaps That leaves the federal government as the have on society. Further back in time, it is they should provide most of the funding. But funder of last resort for research. So how is worthy of note that Roentgen did not have a our public colleges and universities are also the federal government doing in this regard contract to produce an X-ray machine–and responsible for educating 70 percent of our today? Well, the U.S. government ranks Flemming was not working on a project to young people and are in no position today to twenty-ninth in the world in the fraction of produce antibiotics. fund research while states disinvest in higher research conducted within the country that Finally, how about those among us who education and tuition soars. The states now is funded by the government. care about national security and homeland provide a smaller percentage of the operat- So what can we do? Answering that security? The United States today has the ing budgets of our state universities than at question takes up the main part of the eighth-largest military force in the world any time in the last quarter century, and the Academy’s report. The first and broadest in terms of overall personnel count. Every percentage has been declining steadily. recommendation has to do with, as you Secretary of Defense I have known has said Philanthropy is of course important, but might expect, the funding of basic research. that a major part of the margin of victory the aggregate amount tends to be relatively Much of the research that American indus- possessed by our military forces must be small and tends to be directed toward try has built on to create jobs during the last attributed to advancements in science and specific areas of personal interest to the two decades was performed in the 1970s and technology. philanthropist. 1980s. During the period spanning from

Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Summer 2015 13 presentations

lectual property rules, regulatory policies, Every Secretary of Defense I have known has said and well-meaning conflict-of-interest rules that a major part of the margin of victory possessed that lead to an adversarial relationship. We propose that the research and devel- by our military forces must be attributed to advance- opment tax credit be made permanent. Con- ments in science and technology. gress renews it each year and has been doing so for over fifteen years, but industry can’t plan on it, so it doesn’t make full use of it. 1975 to 1992, basic research grew steadily at should not be prescribed by policies enacted Then there’s the matter of h1b visas. 4.4 percent per year, in real dollars. Despite by the U.S. Congress. America’s science and engineering enter- this being a time of many challenges to the Another recommendation is that we prise would barely function today without nation, we remained committed to funding adopt a five-year rolling capital budget for foreign-born individuals who come to this basic research. But since 1992, our invest- basic research in order to give at least some country, receive their education here, and ment in r&d as a percentage of gdp has idea of where we are headed in the long term stay here. But our immigration laws do every- flat-lined. and to prevent the sort of uncertainty that thing they can to keep these people out or to Many presidents have said the goal of comes from not knowing whether the bud- drive them back out once they receive their America should be to spend 3 percent of the get will go up or go down from one year to education. That, too, is counterproductive. gdp on r&d. Today it is around 2.7 percent. the next. Pulling up the roots once a year Generally the reaction to recommenda- The Academy’s report recommends that we to see if the flowers are growing is gener- tions like these–especially when made at move toward 3.3 percent, that we spend a ally not a constructive practice. I know of a congressional hearing–is that we don’t tenth of that on basic research, and that we no successful company in this country that have enough money. But, frankly, that is do this by the year 2032. doesn’t have a capital budget. not true. The issue is not money. The issue Why 2032? There are two reasons. One We recommend streamlining the pro- is priority. is that the youth born today will begin col- posal process for determining what grants Take the nih. The average American lege in 2032. The other is that if we increase are awarded by the government agencies spends twenty-five cents a day to fund the our spending at the rate recommended by the Academy–namely, 4 percent per year, as was the case during America’s economic The Academy’s report makes a number of recom- ascent–we will, by 2032, get our r&d fund- mendations. One is that we reaffirm the importance ing to where it would have been had we not flat-lined in 1992. of peer review in determining what research should The bad news is that to achieve the be conducted. increase we recommend we will have to find money to support a 75 percent increase in basic research over the next seventeen that oversee research funding. Today, nih. Yet each year the average American years. The good news is that the amount research proposals to government agencies spends about seven times that amount on we currently spend on basic research is so have about a 20 percent overall chance of store-bought alcoholic beverages, legal de minimis in the grand scale of federal bud- being accepted, and a proposer will often tobacco products, and Halloween costumes gets that to do so would require an increase have to wait a year to find out whether a spe- for dogs. We could afford more for research; of only 0.15 percent of the gdp. cific proposal will in fact be funded. we simply need to ask what is important to The Academy’s report makes a number The Academy’s study also proposed prac- us. That is what the funding question boils of other recommendations. One is that tices that should make for better cooper- down to. we reaffirm the importance of peer review ation between industry, government, and And that brings us back to the American in determining what research should be academia. In most countries these institu- Dream, which depends on having good jobs; conducted. Determining which specific tions work in harmony, but in America we and the secret to good jobs is education. A research projects are selected for funding build barriers between them, such as intel- few years ago I was testifying before Con-

14 Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Summer 2015 restoring the foundation

The engines that drive our nation are education, research, and technology. gress on these very subjects, and one of the tions at Stanford and at the University of Cal- members became impatient with me and ifornia, Berkeley, where he served as director said, “Mr. Augustine, don’t you understand of the Lawrence Berkeley National Labora- that this country has a funding problem?” tory, which became a center for biofuels and Probably more succinctly than judiciously I solar energy research. In this brief introduc- replied, “Senator, I do realize that we have tion, I cannot adequately convey the impact a budget problem. But I was trained as an Steve Chu had as Secretary of Energy, so I’m aeronautical engineer, and during my career just going to use a brief quote from the MIT I worked on many airplanes that during Technology Review of February 9, 2015: “Ste- their development program were too heavy ven Chu broke the mold. In his four years of to fly, and never once did we solve the prob- service, he made the Department of Energy lem by taking off an engine.” more innovative, launching the Advanced The engines that drive our nation are Research Project Agency for Energy, arpa-e, education, research, and technology. Put to support projects that are not yet ready for simply, that is the message we need to carry private investment. He also created innova- to our nation’s leaders; I hope you will help. tion hubs to bring people from different dis- ciplines together on energy problems, and he rejuvenated funding for solar research.” And, of course, he did many other things. Neal Lane Along the way, he was also a key figure in the federal response to the April 20, 2010, Deep- Our second speaker this evening is Steven water Horizon accident, making sure that Chu. He is a distinguished scientist, a Nobel decisions about the response and cleanup laureate in physics, who took time out to were informed by science. serve in the Obama administration as the After stepping down as Secretary of Energy twelfth Secretary of Energy from 2009 to in 2013, Dr. Chu returned to Stanford Univer- 2013. He was the first Nobel laureate to serve sity, where he is continuing his pathbreaking on a U.S. President’s cabinet. Dr. Chu shared physics research, with a focus on biology, the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics for work he biomedicine, new energy technologies, and carried out while at Bell Labs on laser cool- many other important applications. Dr. Chu ing and trapping of atoms, a technique that has a long list of honors beyond the Nobel allows scientists to study individual atoms Prize, including election to the American with remarkable accuracy and that has many Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Ameri- applications, including atomic clocks, which can Philosophical Society, and the National are now the standard for time and frequency. Academy of Sciences; and election to several Technologies such as gps or the Internet foreign honorary organizations, including would not be possible without them. the Royal Society. Dr. Chu is a member of the Dr. Chu was born in St. Louis and studied American Academy Study Committee that at the University of Rochester and then the wrote the Restoring the Foundation report. University of California, Berkeley, where he received his Ph.D. He has held faculty posi-

Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Summer 2015 15 presentations

The way the public envisions research – a lone, gifted person working in seclusion and coming up with brilliant ideas – is not how it usually happens. Research typically is done with teamwork, a lot of joint stimulation.

postdocs and scientists who trained there. and neuroscience. They also invented the At the lmb, structural molecular biology underlying programming language used by was developed that led to our ability to Apple and Google, by cell phone technology, determine the atomic structure of proteins. by undersea transatlantic transmission, and Perhaps the most famous discovery made by satellite communications. by scientists who worked at this legendary Many of these inventions grew out of laboratory is the structure of dna. “basic research” at Bell Labs, but what was Bell Labs also had an extraordinary num- basic research and how was it incorporated Steven Chu ber of scientists and engineers who were in an industrial laboratory? As an exam- Steven Chu is William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of awarded Nobel Prizes, fifteen in all. What ple, consider Clinton Davisson, who came Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular is remarkable about this track record is to Bell Labs during World War I to work Physiology at Stanford University. He is former that Bell Labs liked to hire young scientists on vacuum tubes for the military. He was a instead of established stars. The vast major- young scientist going places, an instructor U.S. Secretary of Energy and former Director of ity were freshly minted Ph.D.s or young at Princeton who could easily have had an the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He scientists who had just completed a post- academic career in one of the best univer- was elected a Fellow of the American Academy doctoral position. sities, but he liked the atmosphere at Bell in 1992. The wealth of scientific discoveries and Labs, and Bell Labs liked him. They recog- engineering marvels that came out of Bell nized that Davisson was brilliant, and they he way the public envisions research–a Labs was remarkable. Bell Labs invented gave him freedom to explore, so he stayed. Tlone, gifted person working in seclusion the negative feedback electronic ampli- Beginning in the early 1920s, Davisson and coming up with brilliant ideas–is not fier needed for long-distance transmis- and his assistant Lester Germer were inves- how it usually happens. Research typically sion. Their engineers and mathematicians tigating the angular dependence of electrons is done with teamwork, a lot of joint stim- defined the very concept of “information,” in a vacuum tube scattering from a nickel ulation. At times in the history of science, proved the fundamental limits of informa- plate. They knew about a development in a institutions remained at the forefront of tion transfer, proved that perfect informa- new theory called quantum mechanics that knowledge creation for several generations tion transfer is possible even in the presence suggested that particles, like electrons or of scientists. Some of these led to what we of noise and loss of data, and established atoms, could act as waves. They constructed might call golden moments in science. Two the theoretical limit to any error correct- a vacuum tube containing a collimated and examples that stand out are the Medical ing scheme. They developed a telephone variable energy electron source, an annealed Research Council’s Laboratory of Molec- network based on electronic rather than nickel target, and an electron detector that ular Biology or lmb (an offshoot of the mechanical switches, invented the tran- could be rotated with respect to the surface. Cavendish Laboratory at the University of sistor that became the basis of computer In 1927, they reported that the electrons Cambridge) and at&t Bell Laboratories. switching, the laser, the silicon solar pho- scattering from the surface were described Among the scientists who have worked at tovoltaic cell, the ccd (charged coupled by wave diffraction used to describe X-ray the relatively small Laboratory of Molecular device) that replaced film cameras, and scattering from periodic crystals. This semi- Biology over the years, thirteen have been functional magnetic resonance imaging that nal experiment confirmed this fundamental awarded Nobel Prizes, as have at least seven has revolutionized behavioral psychology property of the quantum nature of matter. A

16 Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Summer 2015 restoring the foundation

decade later, Davisson became the first Bell quantum mechanics never dreamed that a talked to Sydney of those early days, he told Labs scientist to be awarded a Nobel Prize. theory developed to explain the spectra of me, “Everybody worked in the lab. Flies, rats, A number of aspiring scientists were light from atoms would lead to the transis- physicists, chemists–were all going in the drawn to Bell Labs to work with the great tor and the laser. same direction.” Perhaps that was an exag- man. One of these people was a young How did lmb and Bell Labs remain at the geration. Flies tend to be a bit more erratic. physicist named Bill Shockley. Shortly after pinnacle of science for a half a century? Was But the excitement of the research at lmb– Shockley joined Bell Labs in 1936, he recalls the magic in the water they drank? Or can the understanding of biology down to the a conversation with the director of at&t we understand and replicate these institu- molecular level as it was unfolding–was Research, Mervin Kelly. As Shockley writes tions today? I have thought a lot about this totally infectious. in his Nobel lecture, over the past twenty years, and I have con- Lesson two. After hiring the very best cluded that we can draw several lessons. people, let them spread their wings and let Upon my arrival I was assigned by Dr. M. Lesson one. Great people try to hire peo- them find their way. The management at J. Kelly to an indoctrination program in ple better than they are, people who have the Bell Labs supplied its scientists with fund- vacuum tubes. In the course of this pro- potential to surpass them. They don’t hire ing, shielded them from extraneous bureau- gram Dr. Kelly spoke to me of his idea of people to be assistants–they seek protégés. cracy, and urged them not to be satisfied doing all telephone switching electronically The very best people aren’t insecure–or at by merely doing “good science.” When I instead of with metal contacts. Although I least they are less insecure. They want the started there, my department head told me did not choose to continue work on vacuum very best people around them. Second-tier to spend my first six months in the library tubes and was given freedom to pursue basic people are more drawn to people who think and to talk to people before deciding what research problems in solid-state physics, Dr. and act like them. Radical thinkers carry to do. A year later, during my first perfor- Kelly’s discussion left me continually alert for more risk and are, by definition, not widely mance review, he chided me to be content possible applications of solid-state effects in recognized. In short, A’s hire A’s, and B’s with nothing less than starting a new field. telephone switching problems. hire C’s. I see this pattern in industry, in I was a cheeky kid at that time and said, “I The vision of the management at Bell government, and in academia. would love to start a new field. Can you give Labs and a team of brilliant scientists led to Another common denominator was that me a hint as to which field I should start?” the invention of the transistor in 1949. Apart lmb and Bell Labs had very flat manage- Lesson three. People stimulate each from the time Shockley spent working on ment structures. In the research depart- other; they get people to talk in informal radar during World War II, he devoted most of his time working on theoretical studies At times in the history of science, institutions in solid state physics. In 1945, Kelly formed the Solid State Group with Shockley as the remained at the forefront of knowledge creation for leader. John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and Bill Shockley were awarded another Nobel several generations of scientists. Prize in 1956. For the next half century, Bell Labs remained a leader in semiconductor ments of Bell Labs with which I was familiar, settings. When I became a department head physics, semiconductor materials science, managers who oversaw up to several hun- at Bell Labs, my job was to help scientists and devices based on semiconductors. dred research employees were expected to in my group flourish. I would say, “Oh, The first transistor was something only a be engaged in active research with their own you’re working on this. You should talk to mother could love; it is ugly and ungainly, brains, and in the case of experimentalists, so-and-so over here. They may be able to but Bell Labs knew it was the secret to min- their own brains and hands. help you. You should talk to them to find out iature, low-power electronics that would Sydney Brenner, a Nobel laureate who what they’re doing.” The Bell Labs culture revolutionize the world. And they were worked at lmb for many years, said about promoted communication and communal right. The practical applications have been the laboratory, “We attracted the best. brainstorming. immense, but it all came out of the basic Our job was to create people better than Most laboratories hold seminars where research that developed quantum mechanics ourselves.” At lmb, especially in the early the scientists report on their work, but in the 1920s. The researchers who invented days, they felt a collective mission. When I often they are attended only by the scien-

Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Summer 2015 17 presentations

tists’ own group or those in their immedi- What was the attraction to becoming screen was that the technology could be ate specialty. At lmb, Crick instituted an a manager at Bell Labs? As managers, we used to make a better atomic clock. After my annual week-long set of seminars known as could mentor the best scientists and influ- group demonstrated the first “atomic foun- “Crick Week,” which would be attended by ence the direction of science. Hiring and tain” at Stanford in 1987, it was a mere seven all members of the laboratory. funding decisions were made at the depart- years before the atomic fountain configura- At Bell Labs, lunch was the common sci- ment head and director level, and upper tion became the atomic clock time standard. entific meeting ground. Even if you weren’t management didn’t demand extensive let- Seven years is a very short time to go from hungry, you would go down at midday for ters from outside experts to justify hiring. discovery to practical implementation. an hour and sometimes longer. We would We were adequately funded and weren’t In 1989, I and one of my graduate stu- sit at big round tables with no borders that allowed to seek any outside funding. Beyond dents, Mark Kasevich, showed that wave allowed “squeezing in.” A common question a base level of funding, the department head interference properties of atoms could was, “What are you up to?” In formal sem- was the first person who decided on addi- make exquisite measurements of accelera- inars, talks would seldom go more than fif- tional support for significant equipment tion and rotation. Mark is now a professor teen minutes before someone would say, “I purchases; for greater additional resources, at Stanford and is developing ultra sensitive don’t understand this. What are you talking a director was consulted. There were no out- atom interferometers with applications about?” One outspoken department head side referees and decisions to proceed were from precision testers of general relativity was famous for regularly getting up and say- often made after a single discussion. to more precise inertial guidance systems. ing, “What the hell are you doing that kind Lesson five. Developing and applying He is also designing a satellite atom inter- of crap for?” The more civilized form of the new technology will maximize your chances ferometer that will measure tiny changes question is, “What is the fundamental direc- of making a great discovery. I tell my stu- in the force of gravity due to changes in the tion and importance of what you have done, dents and postdocs that if they are the hun- local distribution of the mass of the Earth. and where do you want to go.” In this way, dredth person to look under a rock with The sensitivity of this satellite should allow the typical forty-five-minute seminar would the same set of tools, they are probably not us to measure changes in the thickness of stretch to an hour-and-a-half and often going to see anything new. If you’re the first glaciers with submillimeter accuracy and include some very blunt discussions. to look under the rock with a new set of changes in the amount of water stored in underground aquifers. In 1985, I had no clue cold atoms could be used to monitor climate It is important to get the right intellectual leaders to change or track the unsustainable use of our step forward to lead a team of researchers in a flat water resources. At Bell Labs, Art Ashkin used the same organization. The leaders should continue to be active “optical tweezers” laser trap to hold onto researchers so that they remain solidly grounded. individual viruses or bacteria. When I arrived at Stanford, I asked, “If we can hold onto atoms and individual bacteria, can we Lesson four. The best science lab manag- tools, you don’t even have to be that smart use the same technology to hold onto a sin- ers were some of the best scientists. Many to discover something new. At Bell Labs gle molecule of dna?” By 1990, we were of the best scientists avoid administrative and lmb, there was a great appreciation for able to attach a micron diameter plastic roles for fear it would dilute their research researchers who wanted to develop a new sphere to an individual dna molecule. By efforts, but as a department head at Bell set of experimental tools. decorating the molecule with organic dyes, Labs, I could spend 80 percent of my time While at Bell Labs, and earlier while I was we could see the molecule in an optical doing research in my own laboratory with a graduate student and postdoc at Berkeley, microscope. We positioned the laser focal my own hands. All department heads and a large part of my efforts was spent improv- spot with a joystick hooked up to an elec- division directors at Bell Labs were expected ing or inventing new measurement tools. tronically controlled mirror. To my graduate to carry on active research of the highest When I began to work on laser cooling and students, the ability to manipulate and see a quality. Managers didn’t go into manage- laser trapping of atoms at Bell Labs in the single molecule of dna was like playing a ment to retire from active research. fall of 1983, the only application on my radar video game. After a few days of fun, I went

18 Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Summer 2015 restoring the foundation

Research is a humbling endeavor, and failure is Question much more common than success. How do you apply the experience you had in the golden days at Bell Labs to the current into the lab and said, “Guys, I know you’re Discussion state of research? having a lot of fun, but let’s do some sci- ence.” This initial work on single molecules Neal Lane Steven Chu is having a huge impact on biology research. Recently, I have become active in battery We have made the argument that invest- To start, you should allow people to fail. research and have begun to work with Pro- ment in basic research is essential for the The arpa-e premise is exactly that. But you fessor Yi Cui, a star in the Materials Science American Dream, for jobs, the economy, should also teach people to fail quickly. To Department at Stanford. Using new nano- and all the rest of it. How do we respond to assess quickly whether an idea has a chance technology structures, we may have a shot the people who say technology kills jobs? of working, you need to test the most crucial at quadrupling the energy density of batter- For example, they point to the jobs lost to “go or no-go” questions as soon as possible. ies and of increasing their charging rate ten- information technology or to robotics. Is If things are not going to work, move on. fold. If we can get the technology to work, it technology a job killer? Funding agencies need to have the courage could change transportation energy. Imag- to say, “We won’t hold it against you if you ine a $25,000 car with a battery that weighs Norman Augustine fail because you tried something daring.” In less than an internal combustion engine arpa-e, we expected nine out of ten proj- and a transmission that can go 200 miles Technology does eliminate some jobs. We ects to fail. Once it is clear that the mile- on a five-minute charge and over 300 miles can all think of examples. But technology stones are not being met, we didn’t keep on a full charge. If we can get this process to also creates jobs, and it creates better jobs funding the project. work, that would be wonderful. If not, there and a better life for the people who have are many other people working on higher those jobs. Just this weekend I was look- Neal Lane energy density batteries, and I have faith a ing at a letter Einstein wrote in which he solution will come from some group within addressed this same question. His response, Norm, do you think industry is unwilling to the next decade. which I’m paraphrasing, was that when one take some of these risks? I want to conclude by stressing the value pursues science and technology, sometimes of getting the right intellectual leaders to it produces negative outcomes. When we Norman Augustine step forward to lead a team of researchers produce new human beings, sometimes the in a flat organization. The leaders should outcomes are negative. Does that mean we I think industry is unable to do this. The continue to be active researchers so that should quit reproducing? market simply doesn’t tolerate it. I can sug- they remain solidly grounded. Research is gest changes that could make it possible, but a humbling endeavor, and failure is much Steven Chu the main thing is that you have to give peo- more common than success. As Winston ple a chance to fail and to learn from their Churchill said, “Success is going from fail- The United States doesn’t have a lock on failures. But when failures and successes ure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” technology, so if we don’t research, develop, take years of investment, there is little appe- and implement new technology, someone tite among investors to provide funds. else will. The trick is to figure out how to manage the transition to new technology. Question And that’s a problem worthy of deep think- ing. We have to ensure that technology cre- Why did Bell Labs fail, and how can we ates new, higher-value jobs. make the financials for this kind of lab work in the future?

Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Summer 2015 19 presentations

Steven Chu Steven Chu but the culture of most university faculty is to divide the money among their own The most basic research areas that Bell Labs I was talking to the Rice faculty at lunchtime groups instead of working in truly intimate worked in began to disappear because the about the possibility of the re-emergence of collaborations. If an extraordinary scientist underlying company was no longer a gov- great industrial labs. They felt that it was were willing to step up and say, “I’ll lead a ernment sanctioned monopoly. The cor- unlikely to happen because people in the team effort and take personal responsibility porate culture of at&t–and later Lucent financial community are not interested in for its success,” it would help. Technologies–was there but financial pres- five-year and ten-year investments. They sures didn’t allow them to support it in the are interested in one- to two-year invest- Neal Lane style of the days when I was there. If you ments that they can bundle, securitize, and want to start a new Bell Labs, it either has to sell, and they would lobby against changing Norm, I have seen you testify many times be supported by a wealthy, stable company the tax code to reward twenty-year invest- where you get questions about the partner- with a long-term view–or you need to start ments over one- or two-year transactions. I ship between government and industry. Do a foundation. I think you would need about agree with Norm, although I would make it we pick winners and losers? five billion dollars to create an endowment twenty years instead of ten. that could support a new Bell Labs. Norman Augustine If an endowed research laboratory moves Question forward, the intellectual property gener- To some degree the government does; but ated would be part of the payment to keep I’m a really big fan of the flat structure you this is quite different from much maligned, it going. Because the basic research done talked about. It’s been shown to work. But centralized economic planning. I’m a busi- at a Bell Labs 2.0 might not see practical how would a very hierarchical institution ness guy, so I’m not in favor of the govern- applications for ten or twenty years, there like the nih shift from a top-down perspec- ment simply picking winners and losers. But needs to be stable funding at the level of a tive to a flat culture? What policy changes are when the government conducts open and few hundred million dollars a year to attract needed to encourage a Bell Labs structure in transparent competitions among ideas and a critical mass of the best scientists. It helps our universities and possibly in businesses? then has capable individuals make consid- to be near a great research university and ered judgments of merit, that seems to me national laboratory so that scientists can Steven Chu to be appropriate. share expensive critical infrastructure and have access to graduate students. We designed arpa-e with a very flat struc- Neal Lane ture. The director of arpa-e, Arun Majum- Norman Augustine dar, would brainstorm as a scientist with the Steve, what lessons were learned on Deep program managers for hours. Occasionally I Horizon? That was an experience that came Something I have been promoting for prob- would be part of those conversations. I am out of the blue. You didn’t go to Washington ably twenty-five years, with my usual lack less familiar with how the nih runs its Insti- to do that. of success, is that we change the capital tutes; so let me talk about the idea of the gains tax in this country so that the gain on Energy Hubs, another program we started Steven Chu an asset that’s held for one day is taxed at a in the Department of Energy. The intent of 99 percent rate and a gain on an asset that’s the Energy Hubs was to put together a crit- When the big oil spill happened, I made held ten years is taxed at a 1 percent rate. ical mass of scientists and engineers that a technical suggestion. The people at bp One can then draw whatever line between would be directed by the local leadership, scoffed at it, but then they said, well, maybe those points one wishes to produce the in the style of Bell Labs and the Manhattan it would work. So when the President heard tax revenues you desire. That would cause Project. The intent was to avoid micro-man- about this, he said, “Chu, get down there investors and ceos to act very differently. agement from Washington. In university and help them stop the leak.” You would suddenly find people willing to funding, there is the problem of how to So I picked a team of five people, called support operations such as Bell Labs. fund genuine teams of investigators. Funding them up, and said, “I want you to join me agencies want to foster collaborative efforts, and figure out how we can help them in

20 Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Summer 2015 restoring the foundation

any way we can.” We started out thinking Neal Lane that most of our contributions would be in helping with diagnostics, but after a failed Steve, let me say how much the nation appre- attempt to stop the leak in mid-May, I told ciates you taking time out of the lab to serve Admiral Allen that we needed to be part of in the way that you did. I’m sure that when the approval process going forward. you were a young physicist looking at cold Another member of my small group atoms in the laboratory, you weren’t think- argued that it was risky to ask to be part of ing you would like to spend a chunk of your the approval process. That would mean that career this way. But we so appreciate that we were taking on responsibility. I said, “It’s you did. And Norm, you have served this ok. I don’t mind taking responsibility, but nation in so many ways, many of which we it will be a shared responsibility with bp.” I can’t even talk about. But thank you for that don’t think politicians are able or willing to service. And thanks to both of you for taking assume technical responsibility. Over time time out of your calendar. We feel privileged the bp engineers began to trust us and really to have had you here this evening. n opened up. They saw that we weren’t look- ing to assign fault, and that we were focused © 2015 by Neal Lane, Norman R. Augustine, on trying to help them stop the leak. and Steven Chu, respectively Being part of the decision-making pro- cess during a crisis like this cannot be done through a committee. If I had goofed, I might have gotten fired, but that’s okay. I would have gone back to a university. In the meantime I was willing to give the best recommendations possible. Those were nail-biting times. But the President backed me the whole time, and that was really important, because if I said, “Nope, we can’t do this until we know more about what’s going on,” bp couldn’t ignore me. I was the first scientist to be a cabinet member in the history of the United States. When I was leaving, I said, “Mr. President, I really enjoyed working for you. You get a lot of credit for hiring me, a nonpolitician, to be a cabinet member. Do it again.” His inner circle was not enthusiastic about appoint- ing another scientist. Perhaps they felt that scientists were less controllable, and they might blurt out the truth. The good news is that the President did it again.

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