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Balance Sheet for Basic Research Government a n d industry put up most of the money; colleges and industry do most of the w o r k Ν
ATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
has
finished its definitive studies of all the research and development in the United States. Now NSF is analyzing the data by areas of research. Basic research, NSF's prime responsibility, is the first area to be analyzed.
In the survey year, 1953, spending for all kinds of research and develop ment hit $5.4 billion. Spending for basic research amounted to $435 mil lion— 8% of the total. But in terms of gross national product ( $ 3 6 3 billion that year) spending for basic research
Physical Science P r e d o m i n a t e s I n Basic R e s e a r c h Physical Science^Share,of Basic Research Funds (Per Cent)
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was only 0 . 1 % of GNP. Basic research, says NSF, is one index of the nation's scientific progress. From the data, N S F draws two con clusions: • Colleges and universities put more emphasis on basic research than other sectors studied. • University basic research is far from self-supporting. • Balance Sheet. Largest single source of money for basic research was the Federal Government. Industry was a close second. Together, industry and Government put u p almost three fourths of t h e funds. But in actually performing l>asic research, a different pattern emerges. Almost half ( 4 5 % ) of the basic re search was done by colleges and uni versities; industry did about 39%. But the Government did only a little more than 10% o f trie basic research that year. Looking a t it another way, only the colleges and universities spent more money in performing basic research than they contributed. Of the $205 million spemt by the colleges, $60 mil lion was contributed by the institutions themselves. The Government, which put up $158 million for basic research, spent only $47 million in doing this kind of research. Industry, on the other hand, was a significant factor both as a source of funds and as a per former of basic research. In the sur vey year, industry put up $179 million for basic research and spent $168 mil lion doing it. In defining research performed by colleges and universities, N S F included federal contract research centers oper ated by the schools. If these are ex cluded, then basic research accounted for 60% of the B&D work done b y the colleges and universities "proper/* In contrast, neither government agencies nor industry spent more than 5% of their Rod) funds for basic research. Most of the money spent went for re search in t h e physical sciences. About 70% of the funds ( $ 3 0 9 million) was spent for basic work in chemistry, physics, mathematics, earth sciences, astronomy, and engineering. As might be expected, industry spent most of its money for basic research in physical science. This accounted for almost half of the money spent for basic re search. One third of this money was spent for basic chemical research and one third was spent for research in en gineering. In the field of life sciences, almost 7 5 % of the work was done by colleges and universities. Analysis of nation-wide spending for basic research is contained in number 5 of a series "Reviews of Data on Re search and Development" just released bv the National Science Foundation. •
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1957 C&EN
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Kewaunee
RESEARCH
REMOTE CONTROLLED RADIOCHEMiSTRY LABORATORY
PORTABLE 2-INCH LEAD SHIELDED "CAVE" FOR WET PRECIPITATION CHEMISTRY
To meet the heavy shielding demands of strong gamma emitters, the Kewaunee remote controlled CBR* laboratory is fitted with a portable lead enclosure. Designed to permit technicians to work remotely with constant temperature hot baths, cold baths, reagent racks, centrifuge, cone mounts, working racks, reagent storage— as easily as with the hands. Portable shielding never becomes radiocontaminated—may be moved as required to another CBR unit. If you're working with radiochemistry, investigate the Kewaunee remote controlled CBR laboratory — for greater personnel safety, lower operating expense, improved quality control, maximum space efficiency.
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KEWAUNEE MANUFACTURING COMPANY 5 0 1 2 S. Center St., Adrian, M i c h i g a n REPRESENTATIVES I N PRINCIPAL C I T I E S
20
C&EN
JULY
2 9, 1 9 5 7
Some shortcomings of both transistors and vacuum tubes can b e overcome with its new spacistor, says Raytheon. At left is an ordinary straight pin. The spacistor (right) has four leads: base (slanty crossbar), collector (wire directly under semiconductor block on right), injector (whisker-sized wire on top left), and modulator (whisker-sized wire on top right). For comparison, spacistor is attached t o the boatlikeshaped transistor mount
Transistor Competitor Raytheon says its new spacistors, still experimental, offer real advantages at high temperature and frequency .LESS THAN 10 YEARS AGO, Bell Labora-
tories touched off a revolution in electronics by developing the transistor. Now Raytheon, one of the U. S.'s largest producers of transistors, steps forward with a major development of its own, the spacistor. This is a new semiconductor device designed to overcome some of the shortcomings of both transistors and vacuum tubes. Raytheon emphasizes, however, that spacistors are still in the laboratory stage. Another three to five years of research and development may be required before they are available commercially. The big field for spacistors appears to be in those tough jobs involving high frequency and high temperatures and where circuits must b e compact. Guided missiles, rockets, radar, and military communications may provide major uses for spacistors.
The first big nonmilitary use should be in laboratory and plant instrumentation. Eventually, spacistors may also beVised in home radios and television sets, hearing aids, and other devices. In these latter uses, however, transistors may be preferred because of effective operation and relatively low cost. As Raytheon's Hermann Statz, Robert Pucel, and Conrad Lanza told last week's joint meeting of the Institute of Radio Engineers and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the new device will not only allow researchers to design entirely new electronic equipment but will greatly improve existing equipment. At the same time, spacistors have major advantages over transistors, Raytheon says. They can b e operated at much higher frequencies. Raytheon predicts that spacistors will be effective a t frequencies of u p to 1000 to 10,000 megacycles. Conventional transistors can handle only up to 100 megacycles, while experimental models have gone only as high as 200. • Materials of Construction. Thus far, Raytheon's research on spacistors has dealt almost solely with germanium. This material is relatively easy to handle and is highly effective as a semiconductor. However, germanium is not expected to be the material ultimately used in spacistors. Like a germanium transistor, a germanium spacistor, could not be used at relatively high temperatures. Commercial spacistors are expected to use intermetailic compounds involving elements of Groups III, IV, or V. Among the compounds suggested are silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, or gallium phosphide. Testing of these high-temperature materials is planned for the near future. Among the major problems yet to be solved are ways of fabricating spacistors on a large scale with automatic equipment. • How It Works. A spacistor contains several basic parts: a base, a collector, an injector, and a modulator, all of which are attached to the semiconductor. Between the base and the collector is applied a reverse voltage (about 100 volts) that produces a strong electric field but almost no current. Another voltage (about 10 volts) applied to the injector causes electrons to enter the region of high field. These electrons flow rapidly to the collector contact. Signals applied to the modulator vary the magnitude of this current. The modulator, drawing only negligible current, can cause large changes in the injected current. The result is amplification. •
