Session 3
Why is science important enough for governments and other institutions to support it financially?
We talked in Session Two about why people elect to become scientists. But why do governments, universities, philanthropists, and others fund the sciences and support science in other ways? What role does science play in daily life and in the management of societies and economies? And what means can governments use to support science? To what extent did the traditional investments in science by government and industry prepare us to combat Covid-19? And how would you change the current approach to make it more effective?
Assigned readings
The three authors we will discuss (F. Bacon, V. Bush, and D. Sobel), speak about science in three different historical periods, yet all see science as a way for communities and nations to prosper by developing technical skills that promote progress, based on the findings of fundamental science.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Bacon is important in the history of science for his advocacy of empirical scientific methods and the utility of science. No assigned readings beyond the influential paragraph that follows:
“Printing, gunpowder and the compass: These three have changed the whole face and state of things throughout the world; the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation; whence have followed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries.” Novum Organum, (1620) See Section CXXIX (p 37 of 139) on Kindle version.
Vannevar Bush, The Endless Frontier (1945).
This short report, requested by President F.D. Roosevelt at the end of World War II, provides a framework for thinking about how to support science and promote the use of its discoveries in peacetime as well as wartime. Although it was built upon experiences in World War II, the framework is still in operation in the US today. The essential summary is on pp.5-9. But it is also valuable to browse through the volume. https://archive.org/stream/scienceendlessfr00unit#page/42/mode/2up
Dava Sobel, Longitude, The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time (1998).
A highly enjoyable short book that shows both the utility of science in support of national competitiveness and a provocative way to fund it: prizes! Can be borrowed at: https://archive.org/details/longitudetruesto00sobe_0 or purchased from Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Longitude-Genius-Greatest-Scientific-Problem-ebook/dp/B003WUYE66/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549317004&sr=8-1&keywords=dava+sobel+longitude
Another perspective: does science need to have a practical purpose? https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201804/history.cfm
(a very short bio of the physicist Robert Wilson that includes his most famous statement)
An update on the “Endless Frontier”: A bill that would expand the range of federal support for science and technology was introduced into the last Congress by NY Senator Chuck Schumer. Some supporting statements and a summary of the bill are provided in the attached file (Background: Endless Frontiers Act).
Questions to consider:
What was the historical context in which Vannevar Bush wrote Science: The Endless Frontier? And how did that affect his formulation?
What are the implications of his vision of the relationship of government to science with respect to: Pursuit of basic science? Functions of universities? Ownership of intellectual property? (Some of these issues will recur in subsequent sessions of the course.)
How does the story told in Longitude fit within the contemporary view of the relationship of government to science? Do you consider it a useful model for supporting scientific activity?
How would the new Endless Frontiers Act change federal support of science and technology? Would you support it? If so, what are the advantages and risks of passing it?
Can you describe ways in which Vannevar Bush’s program for federal support of science helped the country to cope with Covid-19? Were our failures in controlling the pandemic related to deficiencies in the federal support of science or to other things? (We will return to this topic on several occasions, especially Session 9.)
