A new report compiled for the Office of Science of the Department of Energy emphasizes the advent of control science, poses five specific grand challenges to science and the imagination, and suggests ways in which DOE can lead the effort to solve them. The report had its origin in a request from Raymond Orbach, the director of DOE’s Office of Science, to John Hemminger, chair of the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC), to hold a workshop to identify and articulate for the broader scientific community the most important scientific questions and science-driven technical challenges facing the disciplines supported by the DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences. 1 The request also asked for recommendations on what new theories, instruments, facilities, computational capabilities, and education and workforce development would be needed to address those questions and challenges.
Rather than hold a workshop, BESAC convened a committee cochaired by us to carry...
