13 May 1966 -Vol. 152, No. 3724 =

LETTERS Medical Experimentation on Humans: W. A. Hyman; Sonic Boom: P. K. Holmes;Foreign Aid: F. L. Klinger; W. H. Gulley, S. L. Lewis; E. E. Pilchik .. .. 865

EDITORIAL Transforming the National Science Foundation ................................ 869

ARTICLES Book Publishing-and Bookkeeping: D. N. Fischel ...... .. 871

The economics of the product "package" can determine whether technicalbooks are published successfully.

Speaking of Space: D. McNeill .............................................. 875

The major part of "space speak" shows abundant use of a single grammaticalform available in general English.

Continuing Education for Engineers: H. A. Foecke .............................880Fundamental questions surrounding this new challenge to the engineeringprofession are discussed.

The National University: R. D. Calkins...................................... 884

Establishment of a federal center of learning has had advocates since 1787,but all their efforts have failed.

BioSciences Information Service of Biological Abstracts: P. V. Parkins ............. 889

Abstracting and indexing provide input for a dynamic, computer-basedinformation system.

NEWS AND COMMENT NSF Appropriation: Mutiny on the Mohole-Food: Later Than We Thought-HUAC: Academic Community Supporting Stamler ..........................895

BOOK REVIEWS General

Poverty: Survey and Outlook: S. A. Levitani ............................... 901

Reviews by J. W. Hedgpeth, H. L. Niebiurg, G. V. LeRoy, T. 0. Lipmtlani, R. Han.sonl,C. E. Luinneborg, R. S. Westfall, W. M. Chapmiiani, R. B. Brode, L. W. Scattergood,R. S. Westfiall, I. L. Wiggins, C. Zirkle, H. J. Deason, K. F. Herzfeld, M. Hesse,J. Stannard, P. B. Sears, L. S. de Camiip, A. C. Elnrich, M. Martini,G. W. Beadle, P. G. Haddock, P. D. Hlard ...............................903

Economics and the Social Sciences

Colombian Prelistory Comes of Age: D. W. Lathrap ......................... 923

Reviews by L. Glitt;n1anl, A. Gallalier, Jr., W. Peterseni, W. Smith, 0. C. Stevart,1. B. Taether, J. Velikonija, S. Parker.. .................................. 925

Biological and Medical Sciences

Russian Contributions on Brain and Behavior: J. Broz'ek..................... 930

Reviews by P. Marler, P. C. Silva, E. 0. Beal, R. M. Bock, B. L. Burtt,R. H. Butrniis, K. Banse, R. Berso/in, W. E. Conniior, E. S. Rus.se!/, 0. Park,G. E. Baker, H. F. Maassab, H. S. Ginsberg, R. A. Howard, H. Speclit,G. J. Cox, G. Dalldorf, B. de Vries, E. L. Core, H. R. Sweet, H. Friedm7zanntt,G. 0. Mackie, J. L. Fliller, A. S. Foster, H. Friedmann ..................... 933

Physics, Mathematics, and EngineeringContinental Drift: A Reconsideration: J. Gilllly ............................... 946

Reviews by 1. 1. Rabi, W. R. Mueldberger, H. Laster, J. R. Balsley, E. F. Beckenibach,L. A. Manniing, H. B. Curry, C. H. McKeever, C. Miracle, J. A. O'Keefe,J. L. Tluck, H. Faul, M. P. Thekaekara, P. Masani ........................... 950

New Books; Reprints ....................................................... 957

Index of Books Reviewed in Scienice ........................................... 958

. COVER

ZOO $ICI, CtEES () BTANOALGold pendant, Tolima style, Colonmbia.$ frcftai SRobrtsObar~ E O~mtedAlthough the pre-Hispanic cultures of~M)MEOALCIENES N). DETISTY ~Colombia never attained political units

Sriton W%i~ C,A. Otran................as large or stable as those of Peru orRobet E Otsn S L KeshverMexico, the technological and artistic~N~OMATON ND MVflNICT~ONif).....$TTI$tCS. .achievements of the early ColombianWillam . StereWUhi Cotmrcultures were by no means negligible.Pbylis.?~(I~S..................O~#itliStgaavThe complex metallurgical tradition

characteristic of a number of thesecultures appears at a surprisingly earlydate. See review of Colombia, page

..........en ~ .... 923. [U. Reichel-Dolmatoff, Univer-C..k*t tbr~ s~~idad de los Andes, Bogota', Colombia;_fdar Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., New y(ork~~. ~ City] I

13 May 1966, Volume 152, Number 3724

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FORTHE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

Science serves its readers as a forum forthe presentation and discussion of impor-tant issues related to the advancement ofscience, including the presentation of mi-nority or conflicting points of view, ratherthan by publishing only material on whicha consensus has been reached. Accordingly,all articles published in Scienice-includingeditorials, news and comment, and bookreviews-are signed and reflect the indi-vidual views of the authors and not officialpoints of view adopted by the AAAS orthe institutions with which the authors areaffiliated.

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SCIENC:E

Transforming the National Science FoundationA bill now before Congress (H.R. 13696) proposes several changes

in the nature and organization of the National Science Foundation. Ifthese changes are adopted, the social sciences will be explicitly included;international responsibilities will be increased; and responsibility forsupporting research will be extended to include applied research inareas related to national goals. There will also be organizational changes.The status of the Director will be enhanced, and he will be given asubstantial part of the authority and responsibility that hitherto havebeen assigned to the National Science Board. The National ScienceBoard, relieved of managerial responsibility, is expected to become amore important policy-forming body, with special responsibility fornational policy concerning science resources. And it will be expectedto publish an annual report on the status and health of science andits disciplines, giving an indication of the aspects of science whichmay have implications for the needs of American society.

Congressman Daddario, author of H.R. 13696, said in Science(1 Apr., p. 42) that these changes are necessary because the Foundationhas not keep pace with social demands, and that they are intendedto give the Foundation a more positive and dynamic stance in govern-ment-science affairs. They are not, however, intended to diminish thesupport of general-purpose basic research or to detract from the Founda-tion's primary role of supporting science without regard to specificapplications.

Testimony presented at recent hearings was generally favorable tothe proposals, but endorsement of the idea of having the Foundationmove into applied areas was sometimes reluctant. William Careysaid that the Bureau of the Budget considered the judgment a closeone but did not object, and he then added the hope that the Foundationwould use the new authority "in a selective way and not at the expenseof its primary function of supporting basic research." Frederick Seitz,president of the National Academy of Sciences, warned that the dangeris far from remote that we would "pay a heavy price by sacrificingpositions of leadership in important fields of science."

If the changes are adopted, it seems likely that the Foundation willreceive larger appropriations, that it will assume a more influential rolein determining the course of science, and that it will become moreclearly a part of the centralized machinery of government directedtoward the achievement of national goals. It will not become as mission-oriented as are the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department ofDefense. Yet it will move closer to that status. In addition to evaluatingprojects submitted to it, it will actively select areas of research to beemphasized. Decisions as to what to support and how to use the Foun-dation's resources will become more centralized, more the responsibilityof the Director and his staff, and he, in turn, will become more clearlyaccountable to the Congress and the President for the achievements ofthe Foundation.

These changes will give the Foundation enlarged opportunities tobe useful. But the larger opportunities must be paid for. Political vulner-ability will increase. Pressures will increase, and may come from morepoints of the compass. There will be risk that short-term objectiveswill take precedence over long-term goals. If the changes are made,as they probably will be, the National Science Board and the Directorwill be responsible for protecting the Foundation against paying toohigh a price for its new opportunities.-DAEL WOLFLE