‘What’s going to happen to science?’ – Inside Finance

There was a moment during World War II when President Roosevelt summoned Vannevar Bush to the Oval Office. Bush was director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development and a close Roosevelt ally. It was 1944 and becoming increasingly clear that the Allies would achieve victory in Europe. “What’s going to happen to science after the war?” FDR asked Bush. “It’s going to fall flat on its face,” Bush said. “What are we going to do about it?” Roosevelt asked. Bush was characteristically blunt: “We better do something damn quick.” Some 80 years later, that message is just as urgent. The fundamental relationship between our nation’s research universities and the federal government was established during the greatest crisis the world had seen. Roosevelt and Bush understood that scientific resources in American universities should be mobilized to help win the war against fascism. And win it they did, with the development of vaccines and blood substitutes to keep troops healthy and tec

There was a moment during World War II when President Roosevelt summoned Vannevar Bush to the Oval Office. Bush was director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development and a close Roosevelt ally. It was 1944 and becoming increasingly clear that the Allies would achieve victory in Europe. “What’s going to happen to science after the war?” FDR asked Bush. “It’s going to fall flat on its face,” Bush said. “What are we going to do about it?” Roosevelt asked. Bush was characteristically blunt: “We better do something damn quick.” Some 80 years later, that message is just as urgent. The fu