Why The Science Foundation will fund Basic Science
One framing for scientific research to divide it into two types: (1) Science with a purpose; and (2) Science as the purpose. “Science with a purpose” includes applied research, but also discovery research designed around specific goals. “Science as the purpose” supports the scientist as a curious explorer of the unknown, adding sometimes unpredictable chapters to humanity’s library of knowledge. This latter framing is where The Science Foundation contributes, and you can contribute to here!
Science with a purpose. Almost every business large and small is engaged in a form of science often called Research and Development, or R&D. The business might be asking, how do we improve our product, or what is our next line of business? Maybe they are trying to electrify something that runs on gas, or test new materials that are lighter and stronger, or decrease their carbon footprint. All of this is R&D and it is mostly funded by companies out of their profits or other resources. However, this type of R&D is often confidential and the results may only be found in nearly unreadable patent documents.
Some companies, particularly wealthy ones, may invest in R&D with a longer time frame, usually in-house but sometimes with external partners such as universities. One of the classic examples is Bell Labs, a suite of R&D sites across the country totaling thousands of employees, supported by the Bell Telephone monopoly. While the research was adjacent to the business of telecommunications, Bell Labs has been credited with inventions such as the laser and photovoltaic cell, whose implications are far broader. In the modern era, tech companies such as Google are known for giving their employees free rein for part of their time to explore and invent without a specific business purpose. Of course, the parent company hopes to profit from some of these ventures which also tend to be confidential, although some of the findings are published. In this type of R&D there is an ostensible element of altruism, however employee satisfaction and future profits may be more important drivers of the activity.
A third category of purposeful science is supported by mission-oriented foundations. There are thousands of such foundations with the wealthiest ones being the best known and including the Gates Foundation (global health, poverty), the Ford Foundation (human welfare), and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (scientific discovery and environmental conservation). A mission foundation generally follows the vision of its founder to have a particular type of impact. The presence of impact as a criterion is where purpose is created. Thus, discovery (as in the Moore Foundation) becomes a means to an end (environmental conservation). Foundations also may follow a vision or a defined path due to limited resources of other strategic purposes.
In sum, “science with a purpose” may include short- and long-term applied research, discovery research with impact, and associated commercial, social and political activities to enhance or ensure the impact. Much of the research is confidential, geographically limited, and/or only available to those within a given network or by invitation. Nevertheless, the economic importance of this category or R&D is undeniable: government statistics for 2023 estimate $735 billion of industry R&D, as well as $28 billion from nonprofit organizations. The federal government and universities contributed most of the remainder of the $940 billion total, and much of the federal investment is also targeted, especially in mission agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Energy (DOE), although the outcomes of federal investment are generally publicly available. Thus, purposeful science is the predominant type supported in this country.
Science as the purpose. This category of science is defined both by what it is, and what it is not. To the latter case, anything purposeful as discussed just above, would be excluded. To the former, there are two ways science itself can be a purpose. The first is the acquisition of knowledge. Knowledge is interesting, satisfying, and it can be powerful. Knowledge also defines the limits of the unknown, which can confer humility, frustration and wonder. The second way that science can be a purpose, is through its process. The conduct of science can teach organizational skills, communication, interpretation, design, mentoring, attention to detail, financial management, and a host of other transferable skills. In this way, conducting science can be a waystation to other livelihoods where those skills also apply, including purposeful science.
Critically, we must also bear in mind that purposeful science depends on “science as the purpose.” This falls under the two categories enumerated just above. The acquisition of knowledge can be likened to the creation of raw materials that can be assembled into purpose. Thus, without knowing the nature of a virus, no vaccine could be imagined. Without understanding fluid dynamics, there is no irrigation. And the list goes on. The acquisition of skills is also essential to purposeful science, as it becomes embodied in its practitioners. A High School science fair project is not purposeful, but it begins to train the mind for a career as a purposeful scientist. One could probably make the case that most of the creators of scientific products began as curiosity-driven scientists.
In sum, “science as the purpose” generates knowledge and practitioners of the scientific method, infused with a range of skills that are portable to other careers. This takes us back to the purpose of the Science Foundation, to support “science as the purpose,” being mindful of its impact on individuals, communities and the future scientific inventions and applications of humankind. Join us in supporting science!
Crossposted from https://scifdn.substack.com/p/science-is-its-own-reward