An Overview Physics Through the 1990's (1986) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Supplement 1 - International Aspects of Physics: The U.S. Position in the World Community
Supplement 1 - International Aspects of Physics: The U.S. Position in the World Community
Pages 75-90
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 75... ...
It is our intent to provide a perspective on our position with respect to the European community and to the Soviet Union and Japan, to discuss the increasingly important international aspects of science, and to review our contributions to the education and training of foreign scientists, especially those from less-developed nations. No nation that aspires to a continuing leadership role in the political, cultural, and economic arenas of the world can forgo the effort to mount forefront research programs in physics, a discipline central to the sciences and a vital source of new technology.
|
From page 76... ...
The disparity between the ample resources and support for science in this nation and those available abroad provided an enormous advantage for the development of physics in the United States in the two decades following the war. Throughout this period, Western Europe, the Soviet Union, and Japan were still in a recovery phase.
|
From page 77... ...
A substantially larger fraction of civilian R&D is devoted to energy in Western Europe and Japan, presumably because of their higher energy costs and almost total dependence on foreign oil and coal. One must exercise care in drawing what might seem obvious conclusions from these data.
|
From page 78... ...
78 PHYSICS THROUGH THE I990s: AN OVERVIEW 2.6 2.4 2.2 2.0 1.8 By lo a: LL Con 1.6 1.4 1 .2 1.0 West Germany / / \ // ~_i . , , _~ ~ , I' \' / / / /~ / Japan ,~ ~ .1 United Kingdom ./ United statesman mine/ _ f France ol 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1970 1972 1 974 1 976 1978 1 980 1982 1 984 \ YEAR FIGURE Sl.2 Estimated ratio of "civilian" R&D expenditures to GNP for selected countries.
|
From page 79... ...
A study has been made of the comparative total funding history for elementary-particle physics as a percentage of the GNP in Western Europe, Japan, and the United States (see Figure S1.4~. The commitment of the 12 member nations to the support of Conseil European de Recherche Nucleaire (CERN)
|
From page 80... ...
Although no comparable industr~al research laboratories exist abroad, increasing emphasis is being placed on materials science, including CM physics, in nationally funded laboratories in Japan and Western Europe. As an example, a major effort in surface science is being mounted at the kernforschungsanlage in Julich, West Germany, and another in high magnetic fields at the Institute for Solid State Physics in Tokyo.
|
From page 81... ...
One test might be the quantity of research that has been produced per year during the past decade, which can be reasonably reliably measured by the total number of research publications. An assessment of quality could be derived from the distribution of international prize awards, such as the Nobel Prize in Physics.
|
From page 82... ...
Hence, attaching a quantitative measure based on national origins to particular research publications involves some ambiguity. With this disclaimer, it is nevertheless significant to note that the overall percentage of the research publications in physics that originated in the United States is more remarkable for its size and relative constancy than it is for the slight decline that occurred during the past decade (33 percent in 1973 to 30 percent in 1980~.
|
From page 83... ...
1985 K von Klitzing Federal Republic of Germany
|
From page 84... ...
One might add to this the `'nondiscovery" of proton decay, work that was performed in the United States and is of fundamental importance to Grand Unified Theories. It must, however, be-emphasized again that, with few exceptions, all elementary-particle physics experiments are multinational in conception and execution.
|
From page 85... ...
Valence fluctuations Almost without exception, in each of the above instances research was started in the United States, or major efforts were mounted here immediately following their initiation elsewhere. These examples from the fields of elementary-particle physics and condensed-matter physics provide convincing evidence that the United States has been in the forefront of major advances in physics during the past decade or so.
|
From page 86... ...
Fusion-oriented research exemplifies this issue. All the major industrial nations have good reasons for developing a workable system to extract power from the fusion process.
|
From page 87... ...
In addition to the outstanding scientific resources here, the international character of our scientific leadership in the post-World War II period made the United States attractive to physicists from abroad. The result was a brain drain from the Western European nations that has abated only in recent years.
|
From page 88... ...
For the approximately 3000 foreign graduate students or postdoctoral associates, the United States thus makes a $45 million annual contribution to the advanced education and training of physicists from abroad. If one also takes into account the 10 to 20 times larger enrollment in undergraduate engineering programs each of which has a substantial physics teaching component the total contribution to foreign education in physics and physics training of engineers probably exceeds $70 million each year.
|
From page 89... ...
the expectation that they will return home to staff their research and education institutions, is cost-effective by any measure. If we were to elect to donate the money that it costs to educate foreign physicists here, it is unlikely that we could find any other way in which it could be used as quickly and efficiently to raise the scientific and technological level in the recipient's home country.
|
From page 90... ...
There is a growing need for international cooperation, and in response to this need physics is becoming increasingly internationalized. The great expense of major research facilities increasingly demands international cooperation to secure adequate support, and the expense of some programs, such as fusion, requires international cooperation to avoid duplication of effort.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.