Editor’s note: Fifty years ago, with the first International Geophysical Year (see the article by Fae Korsmo on page 38), the science community banded together to pursue both scientific and national interests. Ten years later, in a speech published by Physics Today and reproduced here, Albert Crewe asked scientists to band together to address societal interests. Among the many possible issues that scientists could tackle, Crewe focused on pollution and crime—years before the first Earth Day and decades before the proliferation of televised forensic science.
IN THE LAST FEW YEARS I have had more than usual opportunity to reflect on the aims, ambitions and purposes of science. Lack of real opportunity to engage in active scientific research and forced concentration on science administration has meant that I have been more concerned with policy decisions than the details of any particular project. This has been a valuable interlude because the...
