Are We Retrogressing in Science?: Despite superficial evidence to the contrary, science in the United States is in a state of confusion.

Despite the large amount of superficial evidence to the contrary, the present state of science in the United States is one of considerable confusion. In large measure, we appear to have lost sight of our intellectual foundations and to have reverted to authoritarianism. Contributing to this situation is the state of the universities. Since World War II these have become so deeply engaged in the pursuit of various kinds of applied research that they have seriously neglected their primary duties as institutions of learning and of education. Possibly the greatest source of this disruption is the government contract-grant system upon which the universities are becoming increasingly dependent for continued existence.