AbstractA brief history of science institutions in Sir Lanka is followed by a detailed description of an attempt around 1984 to formulate a national S&T policy. In the hope that useful lessons emerge for other third world countries the many problems with this exercise are described — from arbitrary selection of sectors for analysis, through lack of guidelines, to largely ignoring financial decisions-makers.The basic problem of under-development of science in developing countries rests on the human and social aspects of the scientific community rather than their intellectual ability. Adequate steps must be taken to ensure freedom of thinking and imagination of scientists.