ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
EDITORIAL
April 1961,Vol. 33, No. 4
APPLIED JOURNALS, ACS Director of Publications, C. B. Larrabee Editorial Director, Richard L. Kenyon Assistant to the Director of Publications, J m p h H. Kuney Assistant to the Editorial Director, Rodney N. Hader Director of Editorial Research, Robert F. Gould
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY Editor, LAWRENCE T. HALLETP Managing Editor, ROBERT G. GIBBS
Teletype WA 23
Associate Editors: G. Gladys Gordon, Stella Anderson, Katherine I. Biggs, Sue M. Solliday, Ruth Reynard Assistant Editors: Malvina B. Lester
Robert
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of exposure t o federal government budget figures, of expenditures which are in the order of billions of dollars. W e felt this way again when we received a report concerning a relatively small part of the federal budget for 1961-the amount to be spent for research and development. According to the National Science Foundation, which prepared the report (“Federal Funds for Science, IX,” Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C., 50 cents) the Federal Government will obligate $9.1 billion for the support of scientific research and development in the fiscal year 1961. This includes $600 million for increase of R & D plants with $8.5 billion for research and development. Approximately $850 million of the total will go for basic research. The $9.1 billion figure compares with $8.6 billion for 1960 and $7.4 billion for 1959. As was the case last year, the Department of Defense, Atomic Energy Commission, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration account for 90% of the total. Government R & D expenditures account for about two thirds of all R & D funds spent in this country. This means t h a t the U. S.is spending $13 t o $14 million a year on R & D. It is of interest to note t h a t during 1960, when the government allocated $747 million for basic research, 44% of this total went to educational institutions, 14% t o profit organizations, 30% to federal agencies, and 12% t o other groups. Some of this research is being carried out in foreign countries. The basic research program includes physical sciences ( 4 4 % ) , space sciences and operations research (29%), life sciences ( 2 4 % ) , psychological sciences ( 2% ) , and social sciences (1% ). Federal R & D expenditures have increased from $74 million a year in 1940 to $8.6 billion in 1960. It is significant to note t h a t obligations for R & D in 1961 of $9.1 billion are about the same as the total federal budget in 1940. The large sums available eliminate one major obstacle to progress in scientific research and development. The biggest problem now is obtaining adequately trained men with the ideas and imagination to use these funds effectively. I n particular we need scientists who mill resist the temptation to initiate shallow and unrewarding research just because money is available to support it. VEX AFTER YEARS
EDITORIAL HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON 6,D. C. 1155 Sixteenth St., N.W. Phone REpublic 7-3337
Federal R & D Exceeds $9 Billion
Kelley,
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E we still do not fully comprehend the magnitude
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NO. 4, APRIL 1961
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