This book presents a concise history of the land-grant universities and their relationships with extension and then examines possibilities for the future. The book suggests specific actions to maintain the value and viability of extension's service to the community. The chapters are: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "The Land-Grant University Interest in Public Service"; (3) "The Academy, Science, and Service"; (4) "From Theory to Practice in the Agricultural Sciences"; (5) "Cooperative Extension--Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?"; (6) "Agricultural Extension--How Well Do the Hostages Serve the Hostage Takers?"; (7) "How Cooperative Extension?--The County and Federal Partners"; (8) "Promises and Possibilities"; (9) "Imagining Extension in an Engaged Land-Grant University"; and (10) "Conclusion--Renegotiating or Abandoning a Social Contract." (Contains 146 references.) (SLD)