Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 76, No. 9, p. 4189, September 1979 Geology

Earth science and earth resources-A centenary salute to the U.S. Geological Survey: Introduction to the symposium*

PRESTON CLOUD Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts 01075; and University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106 Contributed by Preston Cloud, June 14, 1979

When Thomas Jefferson became the third President of the Academy as a measure of faculty distinction, would envy that United States in 1801, he brought with him to the task a vision record. No other federal bureau approaches it. of westward expansion of the fledgling nation. One of his first Other Academy members who have had some long-lasting acts as President was to appoint the young but widely traveled connection with the Survey are to be found among the many Captain Meriwether Lewis to advise him both in military affairs university professors who, over the years, have received support and on territories to the west of the Cumberland Plateau. The from the USGS for research relevant to its mission, beginning year 1801, coincidentally, also saw the publication of Alexander long before the current system of grants in aid of research. In Mackenzie's prophetic work, Voyages from Montreal on the fact, a mutual interchange of staff among academia, industry, River Saint Lawrence through the Continent of North and the USGS has long been one of the characteristic features America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans. At the end of his of the earth sciences in this country, with great benefit to all. book, Mackenzie emphasized the importance to the British The connection between offspring and parent remains close. Government of establishing an outpost in the Pacific Northwest The USGS, by way of the Smithsonian Institution, gave to the to gain control of the profitable fur trade with the Orient Academy one of the most accomplished of its 18 presidents in (1). Charles D. Walcott, a former USGS Director who, in turn, be- Upon reading that book in 1802 Jefferson saw that the new came a founder of the National Advisory Committee on nation must act without delay if it were to realize its proper role Aeronautics (predecessor to NASA) and the National Research in the development of the virgin continent. Thus it happened Council. A later USGS luminary, W. W. Rubey, served as that the Lewis and Clark expedition set forth in 1803 to begin Chairman of the National Research Council under President the realization of Jefferson's dream. And thereby was set in Bronk. Finally, 7 of the 10 USGS directors, including the present motion the process of systematic exploration of the West that one, have also been Academy members and most have been was to culminate, 76 years later, in the establishment and sub- chosen in consultation with the Academy. Indeed, it is highly sequent activity of a permanent federal organization to expand probable that the scientific empathy of the administrative di- that exploration, with the goal of eventually completing a rection thus assured to this agency has been a major factor in geologic map of the United States and a comprehensive as- generating the outstanding internal scientific leadership, the sessment of the Nation's lands and mineral resources. excellent professional cadres, and the high esprit de corps that Before that happy solution could transpire, however, the has made the organization perhaps unique among federal bu- pressure for westward expansion led to the organization of four reaus in the volume and quality of its contributions to knowl- independent territorial surveys (the so-called Hayden, King, edge. Powell, and Wheeler surveys) with overlapping assignments For these reasons it is appropriate that the National Academy and resultant jurisdictional quarreling. of Sciences today formally extends to the U.S. Geological Survey In 1878, resolved to put an end to these bickerings, the U.S. its best hopes for a future as illustrious as its past. We more than Congress asked the then budding National Academy of Sciences hope it. We expect it. To symbolize this expectation, we present to recommend a better plan for analyzing and classifying the here a program that samples the spectrum of science-in-the- nation's lands and resources. The result was the U.S. Geological service-of-humankind that we envisage and the scientific base Survey, now known worldwide as the USGS-legislatively from which it evolves. We are fortunate to have here to do this created 100 years and 51 days ago today (23 April 1979). five distinguished earth scientists, chosen jointly for their pro- USGS history is closely linked with that of the Academy and, fessional acumen and their nonaffiliation with the USGS, as well indeed, with the early development of science in the nation. The as one who will be formulating, directing, and defending, as Survey, or persons identified with it, served as a moving force Director, USGS programs at the beginning of their second in the organization of the Bureau of Mines, the Bureau of century.t Reclamation, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, the Federal Power Commission, the National Park Service, the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory, and 1. Jackson, D. (1979) Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., in press. even the Cosmos Club and the National Geographic Society. Of the 2187 persons who have been or now are members of * Presented on 23 April 1979 at the Annual Meeting of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Symposium the Academy, at least 50 have been full-time staff members of cochairmen: Preston Cloud and Frank Press. the USGS-on the average a new one every 2 years. Some 16 i Director H. W. Menard's talk, "The Relevance of Pure Science", was of these are currently Academy members-I 1 active and 5 presented extemporaneously and no written version became available emeritus. Many universities, which count membership in the for publication. 4189 Downloaded by guest on September 24, 2021