October 11, 2002

Publish and Perish?

As the nation fights terrorists, scientists weigh the risks of releasing sensitive information

By Richard Monastersky

In 1863, when Abraham Lincoln was waging war against renegade Southern states, the U.S. Congress recruited the nation's top scientists to help. They formed a private body, the National Academy of Sciences, that has advised presidents and Congress ever since, through two global wars and the threat of nuclear annihilation. Now, as the United States finds itself again in battle, the academy has broken with its independent tradition and allowed the federal government to assume unusual oversight