Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-08-18

vessels. magnetic deviation In
iron ships and the erection Of q
naval observatory. One commit
tee saw to it. on q request from
the State Department. that the
original manuscript of the Dec
laration of Independence was
sealed between glass plates for
protection. Another tested the
purity of Government bonded
whisky. The National Forestry
Service grew out of q recon-
mendation made by an academy
committee studying rational
forest policy" for the Depart
ment Of Interior.
National Research Council.
The National Research Coun-
ell Is part Of the academy and
is located in the same building.
It was set up by the academy
in 1916, when President Wilson.
faced with war, needed help in
organizing all the scientific re-
sources of the country. The
council. together with its many
committees, is made up of thou
sands of scientists drawn from
academic. industrial and Govern
ment organizations. 1t is pri-
marily through the council that
the academy draws upon scien-
lists. whether members of the
academy or not, in furtherance
of its scientific purposes. The
close relationship has led to the
phrase. "the Acadmy Council in
referring to the whole organi-
Zation.
Scientists are elected to the
academy for life. They are
selected for outstanding work in
the fields of mathematics. as
tronomy, physics, engineering,
chemistry. geology, botany. zool-
ogy, anatomy, physiology, bio
chemistry, pathology. bacterio-
logy, anthropology. psychology or
geophysics. The membership in
cludes the names: j. Robert
Oppenheimer, Albert Einstein,
James B. Conant, Arthur H.
Compton, Vannevar Bush, Ed
ward Teller and an engineer,
Herbert Hoover. There are SGT
members at present. Detlev v.
Bronx, former president of Johns
Hopkins University and now
president of the Rockefeller
Institute for Medical Research,
Is the present president.
The academy meets in the
spring of each year in its Consti-
tuition avenue building, and each
fall, at a center of academic
research elsewhere. Members
present scientific papers on al
variety of subjects, and each
reading is limited by the acad-
envy 10 10 minutes.
Housed in IL Buildings.
The building contains no lab
oratory space but serves as a
meeting hall for scientists fresh
from their own laboratories.
Parts of the academy are housed
in some II other buildings
throughout Washington.
The organization receives its
| funds from endowments, be-
quests and from contracts and
grants from Government agen-
cies, philanthropic foundations
and other public and private
sources.
Often academy projects are
contracted for by the Govern
ment. and the academy places
the money at the point Of re-
search. It receives no profit from
q project undertaken for the
Government and is reimbursed
only for the actual expense of
providing its services. One in
teeral part of academy functions
is its program of channeling
funds gathered from the public
into the proper place of research.
It handles. as an example,
American Cancer Society funds.
And in recent years it has turned
over to a scientist named Kin
sey. funds earmarked for sex
studies from the Rockefeller
Foundation. The academy also
operates the Atomic Bomb Casu-
atty Commission in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki for the Atomic
Energy Commission.
Closed to Public.
Once the academy was open
to the public and visitors dropped
by to view the latest in scientific
gimmicks., But the bronze doors
closed quickly after Pearl Har-
Dor because of stepped-up war
work, as well as secrecy. Exhibits
were returned to scientific CEN
tiers, and the still growing activi-
ties of the academy filled all
available space.
This is probably one reason
for the misunderstanding"
academy officials speak Of. The
doors are still closed, and science
leads a somewhat sheltered life
anyway.
But If John Doe stands out
side the building and reflects for
awhile on the work of the Acad-
envy Research Council-what its
men have given to his country
in wartime and in peace
maybe, like a scientist. he can
see that grandeur.
| It must be there.
| ..z:s sszsz III
| ~