ABSTRACT
American research universities generate most of the nation's new scientific knowledge in addition to providing basic training for the nation's scientists and engineers. The federal government is providing effective support for basic research at both public and private universities, but such support has declined in recent years. The National Science Foundation, which has the prime responsibility for the nation's basic research effort, could work with Department of Defense (DoD) to assure that proper investments are being made in fundamental research areas important not only to defense, but to the future national technology base. The obvious difference between "big science" and "little science" is scope and funding. The federal government has an equal responsibility to both big science and little science. Science and technology activities have long been conducted on an international basis, particularly in the aerospace world where company-to-company or nation-to-nation cooperative agreements are commonplace.
