The significance of science for a country

--Vanneva's Legacy and the Construction of the National Innovation System in the United States (Abstract)

Wu Jun (Silicon Valley investor, information expert)

Vannevar Bush is one of the greatest scientists and engineers in the United States, and his book "Science: Endless Frontiers" has still influenced American research.

Vanneva Bush was first and foremost a scholar, mentor, and manager of education and research - not only at MIT, but also throughout the United States.

Academically, Vannevar is the inventor of the "differential analyzer", which is a analog computer. Before the birth of the digital computer, it was the only machine that could solve differential equations. Of course, the development of analog computer soon ran into a bottleneck, so he sent a young man to improve the computer. This young man invented the digital circuit, and this man was Shannon who later put forward the information theory. And Shannon's master's thesis on digital circuits is known as one of the most important master's thesis in the 20th century.

Vanneva also has a famous student named Turner. Turner later served as the provost of Stanford University and established the Stanford Industrial Park, known as the "father of Silicon Valley". Turner also had two famous students, Hewitt and Parker, who founded HP. Of course, Vanneva's greatest contribution to American technology did not lie in his abundant wealth, but in his permanent influence on the US government's research policies.

Vanneva first served as a government advisor during World War I when he joined the National Research Council of the United States. After World War I, Vanneva served as the Vice President and Dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but soon became a scientific advisor to President Roosevelt, participating in organizing and leading the famous Manhattan Project. Later, he took part in and led the US hydrogen bomb program, the space program and the scientific and technological engineering later known as the "Strategic Defense Initiative".

Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Department of Defense

In addition, Vanneva also established research management institutions such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Advanced Research Planning Agency (ARPA). Today, the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which evolved from the Advanced Research Projects Agency, are the main sources of government funding for research universities in the United States, ensuring their long-term leadership in cutting-edge technology. It can be said that the traditions, methods, and institutions that the US government supports in scientific research today are all part of Vanneva Bush's legacy. And Vanneva's initial ideas and plans were actually related to enhancing the technological competitiveness of the United States as a country.

The United States is a country with a small government and is usually driven by commercial inventions. As early as the Second Industrial Revolution, the United States contributed more than half of the world's important inventions related to electricity, and was not backward in electrical theory. However, those achievements were achieved through the power of private capital, with little involvement from the US government.

During World War I, Vanneva discovered a significant gap between the engineering and technological needs of the US military and the research of scientists at that time. At that time, both the military and the people did not pay much attention to the work done by scientists in universities. And scientists? Because I have no money, I can only do some theoretical research and cannot solve major engineering problems.

In the blink of an eye, World War II had arrived. Although the United States had not participated in the war at the beginning, Vanneva had already felt a huge threat from Germany. The Germans took over half of the Nobel Prize in Science before World War II, and their scientists also played a huge role in weapon development. Therefore, Vanneva proposed to Congress the establishment of a government administrative agency to coordinate and promote defense development based on scientific research. However, at that time, the United States Congress did not take the needs of war seriously and did not heed his suggestion. So Vanneva used the opportunity of serving as the President's Scientific Advisor and Chairman of the US Aviation Advisory Committee to bypass the US Congress and submit a proposal directly to Roosevelt. With Roosevelt's support, the United States established the Defense Research Council (NDRC). The future Manhattan Plan and major defense projects will be carried out under the leadership of this committee.

Principal of the Manhattan Project in the United States

Due to the crucial role played by scientists in the Manhattan Project and a series of military projects, the American people began to believe in science, and some even became superstitious about it. The status and voice of scientists have also been greatly enhanced. After President Roosevelt consulted on four issues, Vanneva hoped to use this opportunity to establish scientific research as a permanent national policy of the United States. After extensively soliciting industry opinions, he wrote a lengthy report to President Truman, titled 'Science: Endless Frontiers'.

Before the official text of the report, Vanneva summarized his four key suggestions in a brief letter:

Firstly, on the premise of not hindering national security, inform the public of scientific knowledge obtained from military industry and promote the development of civilian science.

Secondly, establish a plan to continue working in the fields of medicine and related sciences to overcome various diseases.

Thirdly, the government assists public and private organizations in conducting research activities.

Fourthly, carry out an effective plan to identify and cultivate young scientific talents in the United States to ensure sustainable scientific research in the United States, so that the level of scientific research can be comparable to that during the war.

In addition, Vannevar mentioned the importance of the social and humanities in his letter.

Fanneva emphasized several key future scientific research directions in his official report:

Firstly, medical and basic scientific research related to combating diseases.

Secondly, research related to national security. At that time, his focus was still on missiles, submarines, and radios.

Thirdly, scientific research related to national welfare. It involves creating job opportunities, inventing new industrial products, and enhancing competitiveness.

Until today, the purpose of scientific research in the United States still revolves around these three aspects.

To achieve the above tasks, Vanneva believes that the government must do four things:

Firstly, cultivate talents.

Secondly, support university research. Before that, the federal government of the United States did not give universities research funds.

Thirdly, in order to ensure that universities and private enterprise research institutions have sufficient talent, national research institutions cannot compete with universities and private enterprises for talent.

This is the difference between the United States and other countries. There are only a few government scientific research institutions in the United States, most of which were established for the needs of the war during World War II, such as Los Alamos Laboratory and Lawrence Laboratory. Since then, almost no new laboratories have been established.

It even handed over some national laboratories to universities for management. Even during the implementation of the Apollo moon landing, NASA was only the leading agency, with a large amount of work entrusted to research institutions of universities and companies.

Today, many people are wondering why SpaceX, a private enterprise, is so advanced in space technology. In fact, SpaceX is paid by NASA, but the scientific research operation mode of the United States is different from that of many countries in the world. In fact, the United States conducts research on the latest aircraft, missiles, and submarines through private enterprises and universities that have obtained government contracts.

Fourthly, in order to stimulate private enterprises to increase research investment, two things need to be done well. One is to formulate tax policies for offsetting scientific research funds, and the other is to protect patents well.

Today, the research and development budget of major American companies is very high, such as Google's research and development budget for 2019, which was $26 billion, and Microsoft's research and development budget for the same period, which was $20 billion. This is not only to enhance one's own competitiveness, but also related to many policies of the US government that encourage research.

In terms of talent cultivation, Vanneva emphasized three key points:

Firstly, there are very few people who can conduct scientific research, but finding these very few people requires a large base of people.

Secondly, the cultivation of scientists takes a very long time.

Thirdly, the government should attract talents to scientific research by providing scholarships.

The highest scholarship given to graduate students by American universities today is the National Science Foundation scholarship.

In 1945, the article 'Sincere as Thought'

Vanneva's ideas are very advanced. In 1945, he published an article in the Atlantic Monthly titled "Sincerely Thinking" to envision future technological developments. In this forward-looking article, he described the concept of personal computers and proposed the establishment of a database system for storing and retrieving large amounts of information through computers. In addition, he also proposed the direction of technological development such as hypertext, multimedia, search engines, global networks, and digital libraries.

Upon hearing this, do you think Vanneva is a traveler. Of course, the contribution of these forward-looking studies to the United States is still insignificant compared to his design of the US research system.

The significance of Guan Qian science for a country, as stated by Vanneva:

Whether in times of peace or war, science only contributes to the well-being of the nation as a member of a team. But without scientific progress, no amount of achievements in other areas can ensure our health, prosperity and security in the modern world as a country.

Although there are significant differences in social systems, cultural traditions, development levels, and geographical environments between China and the United States, China cannot simply apply the American model. However, a comprehensive understanding of the successful experience of the United States in innovation is essential for China today.

Fanneva's ideas on scientific research and innovation have still influenced everyone and are believed to have reference significance for China.

--Article source: Mr. Sai (ID: mrscience100). The article only represents the author's viewpoint. If there is an error in the source annotation, please let us know and we will promptly correct/delete it