National Science Foundation - History and Mission - Legislative History

Legislative History

In the midst of World War II US policymakers became convinced that something had to be done with America's scientific infrastructure. Although the federal government had established nearly 40 scientific organizations between 1910 and 1940, the US relied upon a primarily laissez-faire approach to scientific research and development. Growing rubber shortages and other war related bottlenecks led many to rethink America's decentralized and market driven approach to science. Despite a growing consensus that something had to be done, there was no consensus on what to do. Two primary proposals emerged, one from New Deal Senator Harley M. Kilgore and another from Vannevar Bush.

Harley Kilgore's Vision

Narratives about the National Science Foundation typically concentrated on Bush and his publication Science-The Endless Frontier. This began to change in the late 1970s when scholars began to look closer at the historical record. What they saw was that the National Science Foundation first appears as a comprehensive New Deal Policy proposed by Sen. Harley Kilgore of West Virginia. Swept into office on the wave of new deal politicians, Harley Kilgore was a small businessman with a deep distrust of monopolies. Looking about the landscape of wartime research Kilgore was concerned about the largely laissez-faire approach to producing technologies and products. He was also concerned about the lack of coordination between the federal government and private firms, believing that organizational chaos would lead to a failure in technology production. He was also distressed by the concentration of research activities in the hands of a few elite universities and a few private firms. Always suspicious of monopolies, he also feared that monopolistic industries had no incentives to develop the products needed for war and postwar economic and social welfare. His solution to these problems was to propose a comprehensive and centralized research body that would be responsible to many stakeholders and that would be in charge of producing both basic and applied research. According to this vision, research would no longer be driven by the invisible hand of the market. Research projects would be selected by the public. This public would be represented by a committee of stakeholders including commuting members, industry, and academia. Research results and products would not be owned by private interests, instead the public would own the rights to all patents funded by public monies. Rather than let the market pursue applied research, the proposed agency would pursue both basic and applied research that would support science direct economic and social importance. Responding to his worry about concentration, research monies would be equitably spread across universities.

Vannevar Bush's Approach

Kilgore's proposals met mixed support. Non-elite universities as well small businesses supported his proposals. The Budget Bureau also supported him. Opponents feared that the policy would take research out of the hands of scientists. Others suggested that the policy would socialize at large and independent section of the economy. Another opponent was Vannevar Bush, who was the liaison between Congress and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. He recognized some of the same problems as Kilgore highlighted, and he saw some things he liked in Kilgore's proposals, however he thought that the proposed federal science agency should have a much different form. Bush did not like the idea of letting social interests and community members drive science policy. He feared that the selection of research projects would become politicized and he also had complete faith in the ability of scientists to pick the best possible projects. Furthermore, in contrast to Kilgore, he felt that the agency should have the narrower mandate of pursuing only basic science, rather than basic and applied science. Unlike Kilgore, he believed the public should not own research results and products, instead responsible researchers should own the research results. Broadly speaking Bush's vision was significantly more narrow than Kilgore's proposal. It maintained the status quo in patenting arrangements, it limited project selection to scientists, and it narrowed projects to basic research.

Reception and Passing

Kilgore first introduced his policy in 1942 under the title the Technology Mobilization Act. After the failure of this attempt, as well as subsequent failed attempts, the National Science Foundation act passed in 1950. The final bill mostly took on the character of Vannevar Bush's proposal. Broadly speaking it brought about a fragmented or pluralistic system of federal funding for research. During the eight years between initial proposal and final passage, new and existing agencies claimed pieces from the original proposal, leaving the science foundation with limited responsibilities . In the end the final policy represented a failure for those who believed in popular control over research resources and those who believe that planning and coordination could be extended to the sphere of science policy. Conversely the final policy represented a victory for business interests (who feared competition from the government in the area of applied research and who saw Kilgore's patent law proposal as a threat to their property rights) and for scientists (who gained control of what would later become an important source of resources and professional autonomy).