DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE

 

Public Health Service Bethesda 1h, Md.

National Institutes of Health February b, 1958

Dr. Van R. Potter

McArdle Memorial Laboratory
The University of Wisconsin
Medical School

Madison 6, Wisconsin

Dear Dr. Potter:

Dr. Shannon has asked me to reply to your letter of November él.
fhe question that you raised has stimulated a great deal of dis-
cussion around NIH, and this accounts for the excessive delay in
responding to your letter.

There are not now in the United States an adequate number
of points at which the relationships between science and society
can be productively discussed,

As you know, a large number of groups advisory to the Federal
Government on matters of science deal in a partial way with the
economic, sociological and cultural aspects of various areas of
science, but this is entirely incidental.

I have a personal conviction that the relationship between
science and society--of which one aspect is governmental activity
in sclencs and the relationships between universities and the
Federal Government--is of such general significance as to be a
worthy area for exploration in an academic atmosphere. The
philosophical problems involved in the reciprocal relationships
between science and society are, in my opinion, a productive
starting point for an academic area of interest. As a matter of
fact, I think that several universities should seriously consider
the establishment of a chair and the development of cooperative
teaching relationships required to deal with this question of the
mutual dependence and in a sense the conflict between science and
the pressures of socity. I have talked with people from Harvard
and also the Carnegie Corporation about the possibility of establish-
ing such an area of study. If this idea appeals to you you might
wish to explore it at Wisconsin, I am sure that Dr. Elvehjem would
be prepared to consider such an undertaking seriously. As soon as I
have a little time I intend to write down a prospectus for such an
undertaking, encompassing a basic set of books, and an outline of a
series of seminars, and a list of possidle doctoral dissertations,

I know that I have not answered your question satisfactorily,
but perhaps in asking other questions we may proceed towards some
productive end.

Sincerely yours,

Charles V. Kidd, Chief
office of Research Planning