OPINION NATURE|Vol 466|19 August 2010

for example, how physicians will use genetic what variants mean for the individual. James Shreeve has written a detailed study of data for diagnosis and treatment, and whether Drawing the Map of Life is one of many Venter’s contributions. individuals will welcome or fear knowledge of books that have been written about the HGP. All of these books are valuable; what is what their genomes hold for the future. The volume does not add much to earlier now needed is a scholarly history of the HGP. Such social change will follow, I believe, descriptions of the project’s genesis, such as Drawing the Map of Life is not that book, but it when useful applications of genomic infor- Genome by Jerry Bishop and Michael Wald- offers an enjoyable account of the project from mation become available. They might tell holz (Simon and Schuster, 1990) and The Gene origin to conclusion and beyond. ■ us how to alter our lifestyles to improve our Wars by Robert Cook-Deegan (W. W. Norton, Jan Witkowski is executive director of the health, or distinguish which drugs will be of 1994). In Cracking the Genome (Free Press, Banbury Center and a professor in the Watson benefit or have serious side effects, or may 2001), Kevin Davies brought us up to the com- School of Biological Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor guide the development of new drugs. But this pletion of the draft sequences. More recently, Laboratory, New York 11724, USA. He is co-author will take time. We are only at the beginning of protagonists John Sulston and Venter have of Recombinant DNA: Genes and Genomes. interpreting the sequence and understanding told their contrasting personal stories, while e-mail: [email protected] In Retrospect: Science — The Endless Frontier Vannevar Bush’s pivotal report that marked the beginning of modern science policy catapulted the phrase ‘basic research’ into popular usage, explains Roger Pielke Jr.

Science — The Endless Frontier. tty E

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Postwar Scientific Research RES ctu by Vannevar Bush I P

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Science — The Endless Frontier was published W H. 65 years ago last month. Commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and prepared by electrical engineer Vannevar Bush, who directed US government research during the Second World War, the document distilled the lessons of wartime into proposals for subse- quent federal support of science. Although its bold recommendations were only partly imple- mented, the document is ripe for reappraisal today: it marked the beginning of modern science policy. Bush’s report called for a centralized approach to government-sponsored science, Engineer Vannevar Bush’s proposals led to the creation of the National Science Foundation in 1950. largely shielded from political accountability. The creation of the National Science Foun- of the atomic bomb, radar and penicillin meant along similar lines were made to no avail in dation in 1950, a small agency with a limited that Bush’s declaration that “scientific progress 1924 by the UK National Union of Scientific mandate, was far from the sweeping reform is essential” to public welfare found a recep- Workers (NUSW) and in 1929 by US agricul- set out in the 30-page report and its appen- tive audience. Bush also adopted innovative ture secretary Arthur Hyde. The poor response dices. However, its publication ushered in a language that capitalized on this new-found might have been due to the confused messages new era in which science was viewed as vital government credulity. offered to protect the integrity of pure research. for progress towards national goals in health, In particular, he broadened the meaning of In a 1921 essay, for example, the NUSW presi- defence and the economy. Government fund- the phrase ‘basic research’. In using it to refer dent declared that scientific research has “no ing for research and development consequently simultaneously to the demands of policy- industrial bearing at all” but later stated that it increased by more than a factor of ten from the makers for practical innovation and to the inter- is “the foundation of progress in industry”. Not 1940s to the 1960s. ests of scientists in curiosity-driven enquiry, he surprisingly, most policy-makers shrugged. The influence of Science —The Endless Fron- satisfied both sectors. Some political leaders did champion govern- tier stems largely from its timing, coming at Before the report, pleas by scientists to ment support for basic research before 1945. the tail end of a war in which science-based expand government support for research had Prior to Hyde’s appointment, US agriculture technology had been crucial. The development met with only limited success. Prominent calls secretary Henry C. Wallace had argued in

922 © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved SOuRcE: R. PIELkE JR NATURE ence, had basic been to the production of a but hardly of real impact on a practical exist that had been regarded by many as interesting the phrase made it easy to convey that “work pleasing the politicians. Bush later recalled how scientists — and could meet national needs, be carried out for curiosity’s sake — satisfying scientists. By contrast, basic research could ofview science in terms of benefits only to mental’ research had long presented a narrow politicians. The concepts of ‘pure’ and ‘funda pragmatic compromise between scientists and ‘basic’ research descriptor helped to secure a language of science policy changed too. from the agriculturists to the physicists, and the completed policy its switchshipscience in When Wallace’s political fortunes fell, leader detonated — it was well positioned to influence. weeks before the Hiroshima atomic bomb was when the report was released — less than two the science and policy camps. This meant that credibility and good connections within both Scientific Research and Development, Bush had The Endless Frontier bour Vice-President Wallace to draft liaison between Roosevelt and Bush. During the war, the younger Wallace served as then as Roosevelt’s vice-president (1941–45). ture secretary under Roosevelt (1933–40) and Wallace, picked up the baton, first as agricul to see his vision realized, but his son, Henry A. catch up in the longer term. Wallace did not live reasoned presciently that consumption would prices and caused hardship for farmers. But he asurfeitefficient; of production depressed US agriculture was suffering from being too for investment was counter-intuitive because tural productivity. At the time, Wallace’s call research”more “basic agricul enhanceto of phrase) the that agency should the fund the early 1920s (one of the first narrow uses The fluid meaning of “basic research” galvanized science-policy discussions in the mid-twentieth century. Frontier bomb that had ended a war.” The publication of inscrutability,inherentWithits Bush’s Bush was selected by his friend and neigh Average usage* 0.0 2.0 0.5 3.0 2.5 3.5 USAGE OFTHEPHRASE“BASICRESEARCH” 1.0 1.5 entrenched the concept of government 1920 | Vol 466 | Nature Science The New York Times 19 August 2010 1930 . As director of the Office of Science — The Endless 1940 Report 1950 Science — 1960 ------*Running 5-year meanasaproportion of1920–2009 annualaverage.

© has made an ironic return. And science policy up to fill the gap; even ‘fundamental research’ such as ‘transformative research’, have sprung of the phrase “basic research”’). Other terms, mentions in declined since the early 1990s, as indicated by funds. Consequently, use of the phrase has today’s competitive environment for public inareinsufficient benefit descriptionsof research no longer seems to fit — nebulous efits to society. Theconcept fuzzy of basic its focus towards conferring measurable ben research”’). tions in 1957 (see ‘Usage of the phrase “basic 4 YorkNew Times is demonstrated by usage of the phrase in science and society discussions were reframed Benoît Godin in 2000. The speed with which basic research,” wrote science-policy scholar are what gave stability to the fuzzy concept of reports cemented it. “Institutions and statistics Science Foundation and countless other policy National the of up setting The discourse. policy in research scientific patronageof e-mail: [email protected] Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA. and Technology Policy Research, University of Roger Pielke Jr up. catch to needs both transformed. Our framework for discussing was written, research and havepolicy been decades since unsettled nature of science policy. In the six relevant today both reflects and reinforces the The so-far futile search for a language that is demand relevance; scientists desire freedom. pursuingin ticians research: governments the different interests of scientists and poli known only to that community. and other monikers that have meanings largely robust science, use-inspired basic research studies: as collaborative assurance, socially itself has been renamed by scholars of science

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0 mentions in 1944 to a peak of 159 men 159 of peak a tomentions 1944 in Words alone cannot bridge the gap between In recent decades, science policy has shifted 10 1970

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and probability appealing. even complex ideas such as calculus fairground rides, Ouellette makes examples, such as petrol mileage and basis of modern life. numbers and how maths forms the she overcame her own phobia of enticing facts. She describes how using a mix of humour, anecdote and Stephen Hawking. together with modern figures such as Johannes such as Nicolaus underpin the work of great scientists has spread across the ages, to unravels how Pythagoras’s influence how his convictions developed. She interest in mathematics arose and and his followers. She asks how his of the ancient Greek philosopher Ferguson pieces together the life story such as journeys to the ocean floor or looks to modern frontiers of discovery, programme in cold war politics, and origins of the planetary exploration (Viking, 2010). He examines the arc of human exploration in sets these missions within the wider Environmental historian Stephen Pyne System and witness interstellar space. Saturn, they will soon exit the Solar beneath Antarctica’s ice sheets. k epler and Isaac Newton, c opernicus, maths palatable Ouellette makes writer Jennifer 2010), science Diaries The Calculus with fear. In fills some people m writer 2010), science of Jupiter and neighbourhoods to visit the spacecraft the earliest explorers. Among probes are true the twin Voyager Launched in 1977, Pythagoras to all things. In order and unity that there is is rational, and that the Pythagoras held u sing everyday athematics k (Penguin, Voyager itty u niverse (Icon, OPINION

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