U.S. scientists won only 3 of the 69 Nobel prizes awarded in physics. chemistry. physiology. and medicine. During the same period the Germans won 19 prizes. the British won 10. and the French won 9. Many refugee scientists escaping nazism and fascism prior to World War II helped to shift the focus of scientific activity toward the United States. Massive Federal expenditures for scientific reseach during the war coupled with the mobilization of scientific talent toward the resolution of problems at the scientific and technological frontier enabled the United States to emerge from the war as the unchallenged leader in electronics. telecommunications. atomic energy. computer science. aviation. and medicine. This success prompted the establishment of a civilian apparatus for the support of scientific research beginning in 1950 with such support rising spectacularly starting in the late fifties with the development of the space program.