The United States Science Departments
Understanding the Different Agencies and Their Purposes
The United States of America is chock-full of science and technology research agencies, with anything from the Environmental Protection Agency to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some are obscure and hard to understand their purpose, while others have more importance than most people realize. The United States Department of Agriculture, for instance, is responsible for overseeing all the food industries and agriculture, and without them, most meat and dairy products would not be on the market.
The Numbers of Departments
The U.S. has twelve departments and agencies, five information centers, and two research policy groups.
Difference Between Agencies
"Research Policies" such as National Science and Technology Council are executive offices from the President. They are cabinet level and its members are people such as the Vice President and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. They are the ones who come up with national policies about science. The Office of Science and Technology Policy does ultimately the same job, except they are also allowed interagency dealings on policies and budget.
The information centers are just what they sound like: information centers. The National Medical Library in Maryland boasts to being the largest medical library in the world, and state on their website that they have information in "all areas of biomedicine and health care." Others, such as the National Technical Information Service aren't so specialty oriented. Instead, they simply document every government funded scientific research to date. Someone who is wishing to take advantage of NTIS's database may also wish to be aware: they charge a fee for their services.
Finally, there are the departments and agencies. In this category fall the most well known branches (i.e. the Federal Communication Commission and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). All of them are separated for their field of concentration. The U.S. Department of Energy's sole concern, for instance, is "advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States", and the U.S. Geological Service actually only cares about natural disasters and mineral resources. Ultimately, each one's job is to research and make scientific advances in their respective fields. Without them, TV would be without censoring, medical research wouldn't have any funding, and cures for cancer and AIDS would be even farther in the future, and believe it or not, things wouldn't have patents or trademarks on them (the United States Patent and Trademark Office is considered a technology agency).
Why does the USA have so many?
To make sure every detail is covered. The United States Government is a big part of American's lives, more than most are aware of; by covering traffic lights and regulating the medicine and food that U.S. citizens are allowed to consume, the Government is both playing a part in people's day to day routines, and in science itself. To this end, the nineteen separate departments are all just a piece of improving the lives of Americans.
For more about each department, information center, and/or research policy agency, visit: USA Government Science and Technology Research Agencies.
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