Science à la Carte 9and their role in some food-related diseases, for example, started in
the early nineteenth century but was not complete until the mid-
twentieth century.
As the building blocks of basic research were put in place, new
technologies were developed. Chemicals were manufactured already
attuned to the biology of insects and plants. Nutrients were designed
to spur growth and fortify foods. And vaccines were developed that
arrested disease. But the benefits did not stop there. From basic re-
search also emerged the ability to build a massive global food system
and then shrink it down into your favorite supermarket or local res-
taurant. Turbines were built and powered by steam and water to gen-
erate electricity for processing food. Hydrocarbons were extracted from
uninhabitable environments and refined into fuel for transporting food.
Rubber was synthesized and made into tires that moved refrigerated
semi-trucks loaded with food across the country to where you live.
Between 86 and 9 , America’s population boomed by over
million. Prior to World War II, federal expenditures for research
flowed almost exclusively into food and agricultural production. And
up to the 9 s, states steadily increased their research contributions to
almost three dollars for every one dollar of federal support.
The platform for science would be decades in the making, but once
established, its benefits to carrying out science were soon evident.
American food production became the envy of the world. Food short-
ages were no longer a regular part of life; Americans had more to
eat than ever before. But when America entered World War II, the
federal government’s easy flow of money for food and agricultural
research came to an abrupt halt. To aid the war effort, federal funding
was diverted into wartime technology like radar, the atomic bomb,
and penicillin. Overseeing the funding disbursement was Vannevar
Bush, an electrical engineer who understood well both politicians and
scientists. As the war was winding down, President Roosevelt com-
missioned Bush to distill wartime lessons into future federal support
for science. Less than two weeks before the atomic bomb was dropped
over Hiroshima, Japan, Bush released his report, Science—The Endless
Frontier.
To appease scientists and politicians, and to gain their support,
Bush finessed the meaning of “basic research.” For scientists, basic