America’s Investment in the Future NSF CELEBRATING 50 YEARS Foreword by Walter Cronkite Photos by Felice Frankel On the cover Part liquid, part magnet, this ferrofluid serves as a symbol of NSF’s dual mission— research and education. Precisely ground parti- cles of magnetite in the ferrofluid remain loose and suspended in an oil. When the ferrofluid is placed in a magnetic field, it recalls its mag- netic heritage. Here, a drop of ferrofluid rests on a glass sheet placed above a piece of yel- low paper. Photographer Felice Frankel then placed seven small magnets under the paper. The attraction between the magnetite and the magnets creates the beautiful flower-like form. America’s Investment in the Future NSF CELEBRATING 50 YEARS Foreword by Walter Cronkite Photos by Felice Frankel Cover and opening photogaphs for each chapter ©2000 by Felice Frankel. These photographs cannot be reproduced without permission of the photographer. Printed in the United States of America Book and cover design: Low + Associates Inc. National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA 22230 703-292-5111 TDD 703-292-5090 www.nsf.gov NSF 00-50 www.nsf.gov Contents Foreword by Walter Cronkite v Introduction by NSF Director Rita R. Colwell 1 Internet changing the way we communicate 4 Advanced Materials the stuff dreams are made of 18 Education lessons about learning 32 Manufacturing the forms of things unknown 48 Arabidopsis map makers of the plant kingdom 62 Decision Sciences how the game is played 76 Visualization a way to see the unseen 88 Environment taking the long view 102 Astronomy exploring the expanding universe 118 Science on the Edge arctic and antarctic discoveries 132 Disasters & Hazard Mitigation living more safely on a restless planet 146 About the Photographs 160 Photo Captions and Credits 163 Acknowledgments 166 National Science Board Members 170 National Science Foundation Executive Staff 171 About the National Science Foundation 172 Table of Contents — iii Foreword by Walter Cronkite It may seem ironic that I—a man who failed first-year physics at the University of Texas— am writing the foreword to a book about the National Science Foundation. I’m not a scientist. I’ll never experience the thrill and analysis it took to get to the headline. Even of formulating a new algorithm or unlocking a new though we’re not scientists, this book can help us gene sequence. But you don’t have to be a scientist all to see beneath the surface of things and to (or even have passed a physics course) to under- appreciate how NSF enables researchers to advance Walter Cronkite today (top) and aboard stand and appreciate the National Science the frontiers of knowledge in every direction. the NSF-funded expedition on The Alvin Foundation. If you’ve ever surfed the Web or sent Congress established the National Science in 1982. an e-mail, thank NSF. NSF also played a role in the Foundation in 1950 to transform wartime research development of wireless communications, advanced into a peacetime engine for prosperity and national medical diagnostics, and more accurate weather security. The Foundation has succeeded master- forecasting. The list of scientific discoveries and fully, albeit quietly, in achieving these goals. Maybe engineering feats that NSF has supported over that’s because NSF does not operate any labora- the past fifty years will surprise you. tories, conduct any experiments, or land any In 1982 I had the good fortune to accompany astronauts on the moon. Rather, NSF is the nation’s marine biologists on a deep-sea dive off the coast single largest funder of laboratories and experiments, of Mexico. It was an NSF-funded research mission. of the kind of exploratory research that quietly As The Alvin descended deeper and deeper into plants seeds today that make headlines tomorrow. the ocean, I observed a world that I never knew This book tells the stories behind those head- existed, a world beneath the surface that is vast lines—stories about the men and women who are and varied. helping us to understand the world around us. This book, like my adventure on The Alvin, opened For the past fifty years, this has been the story my eyes. Eighteen years ago, I was so awed by of the National Science Foundation. the ocean’s secrets I didn’t stop to think about Near the end of A Reporter’s Life, I wrote: how they were revealed. Today, when we read a “A career can be called a success if one can look story about cloning sheep or about amazingly back and say, ‘I made a difference.’” After reading strong molecules, most of us don’t stop to think this book, I think you’ll agree that the National about the years of trial and error, experimentation Science Foundation is doing just that. Foreword — v The National Science Foundation at 50 Where Discoveries Begin At the National Science Foundation, we invest in America’s future. Our support of creative people, innovative ideas, and cutting-edge technologies has led to thousands of discoveries vital to our nation’s health and prosperity. Unique among federal research agencies, the All in all, NSF’s role in the birth of the Internet When she assumed her post in August National Science Foundation’s mission is to is a perfect example of how the right public 1998, Dr. Rita Colwell became the advance learning and discovery in all disciplines investment can lead to huge societal pay-offs. Foundation’s first female director. She of science and engineering and to foster connec- Other stories you’ll read here highlight NSF’s is a nationally respected scientist and educator. Before she became NSF director, tions among them. Our job is to keep science instrumental role in such important innovations Dr. Colwell was president of the University and engineering visionaries focused on the as Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI, one of of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and furthest frontier, to recognize and nurture emerging the most comprehensive medical diagnostic tools; professor of microbiology at the University fields, to prepare the next generation of scientific the identification of the “ozone hole” over the of Maryland where she produced the talent, and to ensure that all Americans gain an Antarctic and chlorofluorocarbons as the probable award-winning film, Invisible Seas. understanding of what science and technology cause; advances in the underlying mathematics While at the University of Maryland, Dr. have to offer. of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer- Colwell also served as director of the Sea Retired hockey star Wayne Gretzky used to say, aided manufacturing (CAM), two techniques that Grant College and as vice president for academic affairs. “I skate to where the puck is going, not to where power much of U.S. industry’s global competitive- it’s been.” At NSF, we try to fund where the fields ness; and many other discoveries. are going, not where they’ve been. In marking our The point to remember is that these and other fiftieth anniversary, we are celebrating this kind advances came only after long years of publicly of vision and foresight. funded basic research that NSF had identified as For example, as chronicled in this book, NSF among the most promising avenues for exploration. began funding efforts in the mid-1980s to expand Businesses, understandably, tend to make research what was largely a Department of Defense net- investments that pay off in the short term. Other worked computer system into the civilian realm. federal agencies have as their mission the oceans, NSFNET linked NSF-supported supercomputer energy, defense, or health, and they fund research centers at five universities and was open to all that directly relates to those missions. In contrast, academic users. Response was so great that NSF NSF’s mandate is broad, deep, and long: to invest was soon able to turn much of the burgeoning in educational programs and fundamental, multi- network over to the private sector. Meanwhile, a disciplinary research of strategic, long-term interest student working at one of the NSF supercomputer to the nation. centers developed the first major Web browser, Science—The Endless Frontier, a 1945 report Mosaic. Other NSF-funded research led to the first by Vannevar Bush, a respected engineer and widely used Internet routers, the gateways and President Franklin Roosevelt’s science advisor, switches that guide information around the globe. made the case for why the federal government Besides enabling the freer flow and more sophis- should actively promote the progress of research ticated manipulation of information, the Internet and science-related education. On May 10, 1950, has triggered a surge of new business activity, President Harry Truman signed the bill creating which some say will amount to $1.3 trillion in the National Science Foundation. Now, fifty years e-commerce activity by 2003. later, we are reaping the rewards of this prescient Introduction — 1 commitment. As a whole, we are a healthier, better biocomplexity initiative will lead to a better under- educated, and more accomplished nation. Advances standing of the interaction among biological, physical, in knowledge have accounted for half of the net and social systems. As this book illustrates, many new growth in the U.S. economy since the end of of the most exciting discoveries occur at the inter- World War II. This is a mighty return on investments sections of multiple disciplines, where chemists made by NSF, other government agencies, and their help biologists see how blood vessels can be partners in the science and engineering community. repaired with polymers and social scientists learn NSF’s share of that investment totals nearly $4 from mathematicians how to study the seeming billion in fiscal year 2000.