Title

Science--The Endless Frontier: A Half Century Later

Authors

Murray L. Weidenbaum, Washington University in St Louis

Files

Publication Date

2-1-1997

Series Information

Policy Brief 176

Publisher

Center for the Study of American Business (CSAB), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130

Description

In July 1945, Vannevar Bush wrote the treatise that outlined federal science policy for the next 50 years: Science - The Endless Frontier. Given that the government had not financed in any significant way any non-agricultural research prior to WWII, Bush's report fundamentally altered the federal government's approach to scientific research. The report also strongly influenced the congressional decision to establish the National Science Foundation. Nevertheless, federal government did not implement Bush's policy recommendations, and today there is a shortness of vision to science policy planners. Just as private industry faces an enlarged need for the fruits of R&D, the single largest source of funding in this area is being squeezed.

Keywords

Vannevar Bush, Federal Science Policy, R&D, National Science Foundation, Policy

Disciplines

Economics | Public Policy

Comments

The Center for the Study of American Business (CSAB), 1975-2001, is the predecessor of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis. Permanent URL: http://dx.doi/org/10.7936/K7WS8RF6

DOI

doi:10.7936/K7WS8RF6

Recommended Citation

Weidenbaum, Murray L., "Science--The Endless Frontier: A Half Century Later", Policy Brief 176, 1997, doi:10.7936/K7WS8RF6.
Murray Weidenbaum Publications, https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mlw_papers/145.