Wood gives budget advice

With tight budgets the rule in many physics departments, some words of advice on how to ameliorate the situation have come from Lloyd Wood, head of the physical sciences division at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. In a recent interview, Wood told PHYSICS TODAY, “The reason the budget in support of physics research is tightening is that the physics community has not pointed out with sufficient vigor the importance of basic research to national defense. We have no tradition in this country for supporting physical research simply because it’s generally desirable for the technology of the nation. Defense is by far the largest supporter of research; it is the biggest user of new basic knowledge. Recent reports in physics and the other sciences fail to give enough publicity to this fact. We have put our arguments mainly on a general‐welfare basis whereas we should place them on a specific‐purpose basis.”