National Science Foundation Act Amendments Of 1968

Considers S. 2598, and similar H.R. 5404, technical amendments to the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, to provide funds for applied as well as basic research, to allow increased support of international science projects, to specify more clearly the duties of the National Science Board, and to include social sciences under the Board's jurisdiction. Includes H. Rpt. 90-1236, "National Science Foundation-Its Present and Future," Feb. 1, 1966 (p. 197-332).

Committee Serial No. 41. Considers H.R. 8284, to amend National Science Foundation Act of 1950 to broaden NSF's spectrum of activities to embrace initiation and support of basic scientific research programs, together with training programs to encourage high school students to pursue scientific careers.

Traces engineers' struggle to win intellectual, financial and organizational recognition within the National Science Foundation. This book analyzes the tools and arguments, how they altered over time, and how budgetary and philosophical debates were played out through organizational manipulation.

How the NSF became an important yet controversial patron for the social sciences, influencing debates over their scientific status and social relevance. In the early Cold War years, the U.S. government established the National Science Foundation (NSF), a civilian agency that soon became widely known for its dedication to supporting first-rate science. The agency's 1950 enabling legislation made no mention of the social sciences, although it included a vague reference to "other sciences." Nevertheless, as Mark Solovey shows in this book, the NSF also soon became a major--albeit controversial--source of public funding for them.