The President's Scientists

D. Allan Bromley, one of the world's leading nuclear physicists, was The Assistant to President George Bush for Science and Technology from August 1989 to January 1993. He was the first Science Advisor to have this Cabinet-level rank.
In this engrossing memoir of his years at the White House, Bromley brings the unique perspective of a scientist to the political realities of policy making with the President and his other Senior Assistants. Bromley recalls his efforts to rebuild the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology, organizations that develop science policy and that oversee the federal agencies responsible for the science and technology enterprise of the United States; as well as the Bush Administration initiatives to improve the global environment, the health and quality of life of all Americans, national security, international science and technology, and funding of U.S. science and technology. He describes the landmark reports prepared under his supervision, including those that called for a revamping of the science and mathematics curricula in U.S. precollege education, a rethinking of relations between the research-intensive universities and the federal government, and that presented the first formal statement of U.S. technology policy. He discusses the people with whom he interacted - George Bush, John Sununu (Bromley's strongest ally in the White House), Richard Darman, Al Gore, and many others. He includes provocative anecdotes about his attempts - many of them successful - to foster cooperative scientific ventures with other countries.
Bromley's memoir is both a broad overview of the role of science and technology in the Bush Administration and an insider's account of the ambiance, personalities, and politics that mold policy decisions in Washington. It is fascinating and thought-provoking reading.

D. Allan Bromley is the first Sterling Professor of the Sciences at Yale University.