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Science, the Endless Frontier
The classic case for why government must support science―with a new essay by physicist and former congressman Rush Holt on what democracy needs from science today
Science, the Endless Frontier is recognized as the landmark argument for the essential role of science in society and government’s responsibility to support scientific endeavors. First issued when Vannevar Bush was the director of the US Office of Scientific Research and Development during the Second World War, this classic remains vital in making the case that scientific progress is necessary to a nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Bush’s vision set the course for US science policy for more than half a century, building the world’s most productive scientific enterprise. Today, amid a changing funding landscape and challenges to science’s very credibility, Science, the Endless Frontier resonates as a powerful reminder that scientific progress and public well-being alike depend on the successful symbiosis between science and government.
This timely new edition presents this iconic text alongside a new companion essay from scientist and former congressman Rush Holt, who offers a brief introduction and consideration of what society needs most from science now. Reflecting on the report’s legacy and relevance along with its limitations, Holt contends that the public’s ability to cope with today’s issues―such as public health, the changing climate and environment, and challenging technologies in modern society―requires a more capacious understanding of what science can contribute. Holt considers how scientists should think of their obligation to society and what the public should demand from science, and he calls for a renewed understanding of science’s value for democracy and society at large.
A touchstone for concerned citizens, scientists, and policymakers, Science, the Endless Frontier endures as a passionate articulation of the power and potential of science.
Science, the Endless Frontier is recognized as the landmark argument for the essential role of science in society and government’s responsibility to support scientific endeavors. First issued when Vannevar Bush was the director of the US Office of Scientific Research and Development during the Second World War, this classic remains vital in making the case that scientific progress is necessary to a nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Bush’s vision set the course for US science policy for more than half a century, building the world’s most productive scientific enterprise. Today, amid a changing funding landscape and challenges to science’s very credibility, Science, the Endless Frontier resonates as a powerful reminder that scientific progress and public well-being alike depend on the successful symbiosis between science and government.
This timely new edition presents this iconic text alongside a new companion essay from scientist and former congressman Rush Holt, who offers a brief introduction and consideration of what society needs most from science now. Reflecting on the report’s legacy and relevance along with its limitations, Holt contends that the public’s ability to cope with today’s issues―such as public health, the changing climate and environment, and challenging technologies in modern society―requires a more capacious understanding of what science can contribute. Holt considers how scientists should think of their obligation to society and what the public should demand from science, and he calls for a renewed understanding of science’s value for democracy and society at large.
A touchstone for concerned citizens, scientists, and policymakers, Science, the Endless Frontier endures as a passionate articulation of the power and potential of science.
171 pages, Hardcover
Published February 2, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 24, 2021
Illuminante. Da colui che concepì la National Science Foundation un contributo importantissimo.
June 15, 2025
If you want a new idea, read an old book! This one helped set off an entire wave of digital innovation and exploration in the U.S. This is a foundational policy document authored by Vannevar Bush, then Director of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development. Commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt near the end of World War II, it laid out a visionary argument for sustained federal investment in basic scientific research. Bush asserted that scientific progress is essential for national security, economic prosperity, and public welfare, especially in peacetime.
March 11, 2025
Is this a page-turner, a fun read, or anything of the sort? Absolutely not. But it's essential reading for understanding the structure of the US Federal Government research establishment. Vannevar Bush may not have gotten everything he recommended to Truman at the close of WW2, but pretty nearly so.
Reading this now, eighty years later, it is much easier to see what went right and what went wrong with Bush's analysis and recommendations. Essentially, it was a static analysis -- we need more of X, so we add money to Y and we'll get more of X. But of course, when you do that, you change other things too -- which is why economics is hard and not a fully predictive science.
The biggest flaw, by far, in the analysis is that in emphasizing basic research, he correctly identifies the importance of independent, even contrarian, thought and researchers free to pursue their interests rather than being told what to do. He observed that the universities of 1945 provided those conditions and pushed for increased Federal funding.
But of course, in doing so, the independence of thought and freedom to follow interests he so valued were essentially destroyed. Universities of today are largely grant-writing machines, using their professor's time not to do research, but to write grant proposals to seek Federal funding. That funding has to pass review boards, which enforce exactly the conformity of thought and constrained directions of research that Bush sought to avoid. The 'crowding out' of philanthropic funding, which Bush recognized as a danger, has come to pass -- universities do not spend the income from their endowments to fund research, but to fund grant-writing and proposal-management activities, by and large.
But if you want to understand how we got here, one should read "Science, the Endless Frontier". This edition comes with a good companion essay by Ross.
Reading this now, eighty years later, it is much easier to see what went right and what went wrong with Bush's analysis and recommendations. Essentially, it was a static analysis -- we need more of X, so we add money to Y and we'll get more of X. But of course, when you do that, you change other things too -- which is why economics is hard and not a fully predictive science.
The biggest flaw, by far, in the analysis is that in emphasizing basic research, he correctly identifies the importance of independent, even contrarian, thought and researchers free to pursue their interests rather than being told what to do. He observed that the universities of 1945 provided those conditions and pushed for increased Federal funding.
But of course, in doing so, the independence of thought and freedom to follow interests he so valued were essentially destroyed. Universities of today are largely grant-writing machines, using their professor's time not to do research, but to write grant proposals to seek Federal funding. That funding has to pass review boards, which enforce exactly the conformity of thought and constrained directions of research that Bush sought to avoid. The 'crowding out' of philanthropic funding, which Bush recognized as a danger, has come to pass -- universities do not spend the income from their endowments to fund research, but to fund grant-writing and proposal-management activities, by and large.
But if you want to understand how we got here, one should read "Science, the Endless Frontier". This edition comes with a good companion essay by Ross.
August 17, 2025
I’m going into my third year of college as an undergraduate in science, and I wish this was a mandatory read for politicians. Science is a way of progress for all, not a way to weaken us.
The focus of this book is on that idea: how to expand science through the government. I thought both essays were insightful, and I particularly enjoyed Holt’s as it emphasized the importance of communicating science to everyone, not just those in the field.
My only grievance is that I found Bush’s essay uninteresting in sections, which makes sense due to the context of this letter being a plea to involve the government in furthering scientific interest and funding.
However, it was very insightful. I hope that, even readers who are unfamiliar with science, can read this book to better understand the connection between science and the military, government, and public and its importance.
The focus of this book is on that idea: how to expand science through the government. I thought both essays were insightful, and I particularly enjoyed Holt’s as it emphasized the importance of communicating science to everyone, not just those in the field.
My only grievance is that I found Bush’s essay uninteresting in sections, which makes sense due to the context of this letter being a plea to involve the government in furthering scientific interest and funding.
However, it was very insightful. I hope that, even readers who are unfamiliar with science, can read this book to better understand the connection between science and the military, government, and public and its importance.
July 5, 2021
A well written essay, which is still pertinent in today's society. The overarching importance of scientific research progress should not be forgotten!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews