Discover
/
Article

Science and the federal government

JUN 01, 1958
An article based on Dr. Smyth’s address as retiring president of the American Physical Society, given at the annual meeting in New York, January 30, 1958
H. D. Smyth

The great achievement of Russian science in launching the first earth satellite has captured the imagination of men everywhere. In this country, the Russian success has had the effect of making us reappraise our national standing both in education and science. This reappraisal over the last three months has resulted in a flood of suggestions from private citizens and public groups for the remedy of our situation. Such an outpouring of American self‐criticism is a healthy thing and seems to me the expression of a democracy which is fundamentally healthy.

This article is only available in PDF format

More about the authors

H. D. Smyth, Princeton University.

Related content
/
Article
A half century after the discovery of Hawking radiation, we are still dealing with the quantum puzzle it exposed.
/
Article
Since the discovery was first reported in 1999, researchers have uncovered many aspects of the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear.
/
Article
Metrologists are using fundamental physics to define units of measure. Now NIST has developed new quantum sensors to measure and realize the pascal.
/
Article
Nanoscale, topologically protected whirlpools of spins have the potential to move from applications in spintronics into quantum science.
This Content Appeared In
pt-cover_1958_06.jpeg

Volume 11, Number 6

Get PT newsletters in your inbox

pt_newsletter_card_blue.png
PT The Week in Physics

A collection of PT's content from the previous week delivered every Monday.

pt_newsletter_card_darkblue.png
PT New Issue Alert

Be notified about the new issue with links to highlights and the full TOC.

pt_newsletter_card_pink.png
PT Webinars & White Papers

The latest webinars, white papers and other informational resources.

By signing up you agree to allow AIP to send you email newsletters. You further agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.