After the end of the Second World War, the U.S. military services began to support basic research in ivilian institutions. They officially stated that they would transfer their basic research programs to the National Science Foundation (NSF), once it was established. But in fact they did not. This paper has analyzed the institutional processes in which the U.S. military services continued to support basic research after the establishment of the NSF. In July 1946, the US Army and Navy jointly established the Research and Development Board (RDB) to coordinate Their R & D activities. They appointed Vannevar Bush, a famous civilian scientific administrator and the director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development during the war, as Chairman of the RDB. Bush and some military officials attempted to set up a defense research division in the NSF, but they did not succeeded because President Truman vetoed in August 1947 the bill that they had proposed. As a result, the NSF was established without any military research divisions. Following the veto, debates continued among the military officials whether they should continue to support basic research programs in civilian institutions or transfer such support entirely to the NSF. During meetings of the RDB between 1948 and 1951, the decision was made that the military services would continue to support basic research even after the establishment of the NSF.

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At the end of the Edo period, the Tokugawa Shogunate introduced Western military system in the military organization reform, and the reform gave rise to the situation that required a lot of gunpowder. Gunpowder was composed of 60-80% saltpeter, 8-25% sulfur and 10-20% charcoal. Saltpeter made up most of the materials of gunpowder, but Japan had no natural reserves of saltpeter. For acquisition of saltpeter, the Japanese relied on the import from China or artificial production. So on introducing Western military system, how to get saltpeter was regarded as important. Commondore Matthew Calbraith Perry's fleet that came to Japan in 1853 brought about the jump in saltpeter prices. The guild was responsible for control of the distribution channel of materials of gunpowder, especially saltpeter, and for produce of gunpowder under the Shogunate control, which led to the establishment of the guild of gunpowder (Awasegusuri-Za) in 1854. However, the production of gunpowder under the Shogunate control was not realized until the establishment of Meguro powder plant and the area of saltpeter production for the Shogunate (Shoseki-Gojiseijyo) in 1862-1863. The control of the distribution channel of materials of gunpowder, limited to saltpeter, was realized by establishment of the guild of saltpeter (Shoseki-Kaisyo) in 1863. The control of saltpeter by the Shogunate began with the plan of gunpowder guild in 1854, it is to say that arrival of Perry's fleet in Japan had a great impact on the production of gunpowder under the Shogunate.

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The Imperial College of Engineering (ICE or Kobu-Daigakko) in Tokyo, founded in 1873, was one of the most prominent modern institutions of engineering education in early Meiji Japan. Henry Dyer (1848-1918), the first principal of the college, says that he himself designed its curriculum on the ship from Britain to Japan, and it was accepted by the Meiji government without any modifications in 1873. Relying on his account, previous studies of the college mainly emphasized Dyer's contribution, ignoring that of the government. This paper examines the process of the establishment of the ICE by comparing the several plans for the college by the Ministry of Public Works, to which the college belonged, with those of Dyer. On this basis, the author argues that the system of engineering education at the college had been already settled by the Ministry before Dyer arrived in Japan, and that Dyer's contribution was limited to a detailed curriculum. There were critical differences in the intentions of the Ministry and Dyer for engineering education. For example, Dyer intended to give students a complete engineering education in a six-year course, while the Ministry intended to have students study abroad for a period after finishing the course. Although Dyer was proud that the college offered a higher level engineering education than universities in England and Scotland, leaders at the Ministry were not satisfied with an education in Japan alone, and decided to send students abroad for further studies.

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