INTERNATIONAL CONCILIATION Published monthly by the American Association for International Conciliation, I. The National Research Council. II. The International Organization of Scientific III. The International Union of Academies and AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR INTERNATIONAL CONCILIATION EDITORIAL OFFICE: 407 WEST 117TH STREET, NEW YORK CITY PUBLICATION OFFICE: GREENWICH, CONN. I THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL By VERNON KELLOGG Permanent Secretary of the National Research Council Its The National Research Council is a cooperative organization of the scientific men of America. members include, however, not only scientific and technical men but also business men interested in engineering and industry. It is established under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences and enjoys the cooperation of most of the major scientific and technical societies of the country, its membership being largely composed of appointed representatives of forty or more of these societies. The Council was organized in 1916 to coordinate the research facilities of the country for work on war problems, and in 1918, by executive order of the President of the United States, it was reorganized as a permanent body. Its essential purpose is the promotion of scientific research and of the application and dissemination of scientific knowledge for the benefit of the national strength and well-being. In the character of its organization and support it differs materially from other similarly-named organizations which have been established in recent years in several other countries, notably England, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Italy. These organizations are all government-supported and to some extent government-controlled. The American National Research Council, although partly supported during the war period by the government and primarily devoted at that time to activities of direct assistance to the government, is now entirely supported from other than governmental sources, and is entirely controlled by its own representatively selected membership and democratically chosen officers. The Council expects to maintain a close cooperation with government scientific bureaus and their activities but it is in no sense itself a government bureau. It is composed of a series of major divisions arranged in two groups. One group comprises seven divisions of science and technology representing, respectively, physics, mathematics, and astronomy; chemistry and chemical technology; biology and agriculture; the medical sciences; psychology and anthropology; geology and geography; and engineering. The other group comprises six divisions of general relations, representing foreign relations, government relations, states relations, educational relations, research extension, and research information. As subordinate or affiliated lesser groups each of these divisions comprises a larger or smaller series of committees, each with its special field or subject of attention. There are certain other committees, administrative and technical, which affiliate directly with the executive board of the Council. The Council maintains two series of publications, one called Bulletins, the other, Reprints and Circulars. Its official organ for the publication of the minutes of the meetings of its executive board and interim committee (acting as an executive committee between meetings of the board) and for the publication of certain papers is the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Its administrative officers are a chairman, three vice-chairmen, a permanent secretary, treasurer, and the chairmen of its various divisions. All of these are elected annually by the executive board except in the cases of the permanent secretary and the treasurer, and of the chairmen of the divisions of science and technology who are elected by the members of these divisions. For The financial support of the administrative work of the Council is assured by a gift of five million dollars recently made by the Carnegie Corporation. Part of this gift is to be devoted to the erection of a suitable building in Washington for the joint use of the Council and the National Academy of Sciences, and the rest is to serve as an endowment for the Council. the support of the special scientific projects set on foot or fostered by the Council it relies on special gifts obtained from time to time from various sources. The most notable of these gifts so far made has been one of five hundred thousand dollars for the support, during five years, of a group of National Research Fellowships in Physics and Chemistry, administered by a Research Fellowships Board affiliated with the Council. Other considerable gifts for specific purposes have been made by the General Education Board, the Commonwealth Fund, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, the Southern Pine Association, etc. The funds for the purchase of the land in Washington on which the headquarters building is to be erected were obtained from more than a score of generous private individuals. So much for the general relations of the Council to the scientific men and societies of the country and for |