International Cooperation: The New ICSU Program on Critical Data

From that vast, amorphous body of knowledge known as scientific and technologic information, evaluated numerical data emerge as a definable and manageable aspect. It is recognized that the generation, evaluation, and dissemination of critically evaluated numerical reference data are an important part of the overall problem of science information because of the direct dependence of both technology and basic scientific research on reliable quantitative data. As increasingly accurate and precise information is required on increasing numbers of compounds, it is ·simply impractical for each nation alone to attempt to cope with the problem. Not only is the scope of the task too large; no one nation has the expert manpower or large financial resources required to abstract, appraise, compile, and disseminate all the data generated by scientists of the world and needed to fuel modern research and development. Since the membership of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) covers all disciplines in the basic natural sciences, with representation from the major science-producing nations of the world, it seems ideally suited to provide the necessary intellectual stimulation and the proper cooperative forum for a voluntary international coordination of efforts at compilation