ABSTRACT
The present low estate of science and technology advice to the President is more evident than the relatively healthy state of science and technology advice to the Congress. The contrast between the glory days of the President's Science Advisory Council (PSAC) under Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, and the thready pulse in the life-line between the Reagan White House and the scientific community underlines the point. PSAC worked so well because its members knew that their advice was sought after, and would be taken seriously. Thus it responded to the first distinguishing character of science advice, the need for lay recipients of that advice to pay attention and listen patiently. Effective advice to the President must depart from the model for scientific inquiry: Advice offered to the President on any subject, must be the exclusive property of the person being advised, not to be shared with the general public or with interest groups, special or general.
