Discussed are the ways in which modern data analysis can increase understanding of complex interrelationships in natural and manmade systems, thus enhancing the rationality of decision-making. Examples are given of predictions made from economic and ecological models. The need for international cooperation on environmental questions is discussed in terms of compatibility of systems for collecting and storing data, free flow of research information, and shared practical effort. Concerns are expressed for the health of higher education in particular graduate education, and for the responsiveness of the political process. Listed are grants made by the Ford Foundation to environmental projects, and books and reports in environmental subjects published in 1968 and 1969 directly or indirectly under Ford Foundation grants. (EB)