THE National Academies is a funny organisation. Congress created it in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln was president, and it now consists of four organisations: the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council. Their job is to advise the government on scientific and technological matters.
But despite three having “National” in their names, the academies receive no direct support from the federal government. Instead, in order to perform their advisory role, they get contracts from various federal agencies to conduct studies on topics of interest to that agency. The academies pride themselves on their independence and their willingness to speak the truth,…
