Krier 1 December 5, 2013 Science for Society By Christopher S.

Krier The German philosopher Immanuel Kant once said, Human reason, in one sphere of its cognition, is called upon to consider questions, which it cannot decline, as they are presented by its own nature, but which it cannot answer, as they transcend every faculty of the mind. Humans have always mused as to how the universe works and how the workings of nature may be manipulated to benefit civilization. The capacity of man to perform science differentiates itself from beast. The process of science not only enlightens future generations but it also improves society. However, science policy is not at the forefront of the American political landscape. The highlights of the political platforms proposed by Democrats and Republicans concern the economy, social issues, and health care. Science policy has been used by legislators as bargaining tools in instances such as pork barrel spending and maneuvers of political leverage. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Republican Mitt Romney endorsed a budget plan that would decrease overall non-military research spending by over twenty-five percent over the next decade (Lane). Funding for science benefits all of humanity. The United States government should increase its funding of research in science and technology because scientific and technological advancement ensures perpetual innovation in applied scientific research, maintains the United States of America as the premier science nation, stimulates the economy, solves numerous social problems, and works to satiate the human desire to know more of that which we cannot understand. The United States government needs to accelerate its funding of basic fundamental research in order to maintain Americas ability to innovate through applied research. The

Krier 2 difference between basic and applied scientific research is profound. Basic research aims to enhance humanitys prior knowledge of nature whereas applied research aspires to achieve specific goals by referring to established scientific theories (Stokes 30). Therefore, applied researchers are more likely to receive funding from the private sector through corporations and industries. Basic scientific researchers are largely limited to government and university funding for projects. Furthermore, if basic scientific researchers are out of commission as the amount of government funding in research wanes from sequestration, the progress of the applied researchers will stagnate due to the clogging of the flow of scientific advancement. If nanotechnology research had not been continually funded by the National Science Foundation, the rapid advancement of computer technology would not have been the case. The computer industry manipulated newly discovered nanotechnololgy principles to enhance products. A host of industries rely on emerging fields of scientific research. One hundred-eighty American university presidents recently sent an open letter to President Obama and Congress arguing that the combination of eroding federal investments in research and higher education, additional cuts to sequestration, and the enormous resources other nations are pouring into these areas is creating a new kind of deficit for the United States: an innovation deficit (Lemnios). The United States is compromising its capacity to innovate through the cutting of investment in basic science. A common counter-argument to government-funded projects in science and technology is that the private sector is fully capable of funding basic science research. In reality, private capital is solely used in specific goal-oriented projects in industry and the private sector. If basic research is to be performed, funds must stem from the federal government. Congress needs to invest more in basic science research to provide conditions in the United States conducive to an innovation surplus.

Krier 3 In order to keep itself at the apex of the scientific pedestal of nations, the United States needs to increase its commitment to basic scientific research. The rest of the world is gradually catching ground on the scientific superiority of the United States. Whereas in the past foreign PhD recipients would stay in the United States to look for work, foreign degree holders are now returning to their home countries effectively producing a brain drain in the United States. The ratio of the scientific journal publications and citations of European-based scientists to American-based researchers has increased from 1993 to 2002 (King). Thus, American scientific researchers are losing their dominance over their European counterparts. In 1993 the construction of a government-funded super particle collider in Texas projected to cost over twelve billion dollars was canceled due to the presence of limited financial resources. In 2011 the Tevatron, a small-scale collider, at Fermilab was put out of commission by Congress (Worlds Largest Super Collider: Abandoned). The Superconducting Super Collider in Texas would have been the largest and most energetic particle collider in the world and the Mecca of particle physics research into the fundamental nature of matter. Instead, the premier particle collider, The Large Hadron Collider, resides in Geneva, Switzerland where primarily foreign research collaborations recently detected a particle called the Higgs Boson which is theorized to give particles mass. American physicists were largely spectators of the greatest achievement of physics in the early twenty-first century. The cancelation of a major American science center and the decommission of a functioning center for research contributes to the diminution of America in the landscape of basic scientific research and deters foreign degree earners from staying in the United States upon graduation. The United States government needs to commit to long-term basic scientific research if the U.S. is to maintain its status as the leader of basic science research.

Krier 4 Investment in scientific and technological research stimulates the economy. Take for instance Google. Google originated as a project by two graduate students supported by the National Science Foundation and today currently provides employment to over 50,000 people. Richards K. Templeton, chief executive officer of Texas Instruments, referring to how science and technology research affects the economy said, Research conducted at universities and national lab underpins the new innovations that drive economic growth (Lane). The dawn of the Information Age was directly related to the boom of scientific and technological research corresponding to the epic space race of the Cold War between the United States and Russia. Massive amounts of funding were given to the scientists and engineers of numerous fields to perform applied science with the goal of sending an American to the moon. And in basic science, according to United for Medical Research, 3.8 billion dollars invested in the Human Genome Project between 1988 and 2003 stimulated 796 billion dollars in economic activity by industries depending on the advances in genetics acquired by the project (Lane). Revolutions in the frontiers of basic science correspond to revolutions in industry. Additionally, large-scale projects funded from the government provide thousands of jobs for highly skilled labor. Nearly ten thousand scientists and engineers worked in government-funded labs during the World War II research effort during the mid-twentieth century (Steve Blank). During the Clinton administration, the doubling of science investment resulted in a balanced federal budget and strong economic growth (Lane). As Congress continues to diminish funding of the National Science Foundation, the United States continues to dive deeper into debt. When the government invests in science and technology, the returns far exceed the taxpayers money used to fund the projects thus stimulating the American economy.

Krier 5 Scientific advancement and technological innovation benefit society by contributing to the solutions to numerous social problems. Among the societal goals investment in science and technology works to solve are improving the quality of life, advancing health care, expanding education and the diffusion of knowledge, stabilizing population growth, modernizing communication and transportation, increasing environmental quality and sustainable use of natural resources, enhancing resource exploration and conservation, and securing national security (Kennedy 47). Therefore, science is not only an independent goal itself, it also acts as a major enhancement to the lives of all Americans in a wide variety of ways. Investing in fundamental biological sciences contributes to the fight against cancer. Advances in engineering work to improve the transportation infrastructure and the national electrical grid. American scientific technological innovation empowers our military and maintains the United States as the preeminent military power on the planet. Basic research into computer science provides for a safer Internet experience and a secure personal identity. Experts predict that the world is about to embark into the cognitive era when computers will gain the ability to sense, learn, reason, and predict therefore enabling humans to overcome a plethora of problems (Lemnios). Powerful cognitive machines will be able to help the government, industry, and the non-profit sector address environmental problems, resource scarcities, and hunger as well as to make complex decision-making. However, advancements in science can lead to added dangers in the world. For example, the advent of the nuclear age in which dozens of countries have active nuclear programs raises the possibility of a nuclear Armageddon. Advances in medical science can be used as weapons in biological and chemical warfare. Deeper musings into the physical world raise profound questions controversial to non-specialists such as What is reality? and Do we have free will? The two former problems can be avoided by breeding a strong sense of

Krier 6 responsibility in those who are able to perform applied science while the predicaments raised by the latter questions can be limited through compassionate interaction between specialists and non-specialists. If humans apply the knowledge found from basic science with good intentions, investment in science and technology enhances the lives of all Americans. Aristotle states in The Metaphysics: All men by nature desire understanding. From Isaac Newton to Stephen Hawking, humans have been on a perpetual trek to comprehension of the workings of the universe. If basic scientific research is inadequately funded, the innate human desire to gain understanding of nature will not be satisfied. The next Richard Feynman or the next James Watson will lack the resources necessary to make world-changing discoveries in basic science. The United States needs to foster an environment conducive to the incubation of creative minds that will make the key discoveries that propel humanity into a new age of existence (Ingber). The only way to do so is to fund projects in science and technology that play out on the world stage where young Americans can observe the mystique and the possibilities of American ingenuity. During the Cold War, almost two percent of the United States GDP was spent on research in science and technology. The Americans of the Cold War era sent men to the moon and were the envy of the global scientific community. Shortly thereafter hordes of young American scientists and engineers inspired by the profound success of the American space program emerged to propel the United States economy to unimaginable riches. In current times only one percent of the United States GDP is spent on scientific research (In Our View: Investment in Science Pays). The Superconducting Super Collider aforementioned could have inspired thousands of Americans to pursue science but it was no to be because of a conservative Congress unwilling to commit to such a large-scale project of basic science in a time of peace. A stagnation of American ingenuity will occur if the trend of Congress ignoring science continues.

Krier 7 For example, the World Economic Forums Global Competitiveness Report for 2011-2012 ranked the United States of America fifty-second in the quality of science and mathematics education and fifth in overall global competiveness in scientific research (In Our View: Investment in Science Pays). Such rankings indicate an environment in the United States in which young Americans are not inspired to become scientists or engineers. The United States federal government needs to fund visible projects in science and technology if American ingenuity is to persist. Contrast to the common assumption that science and technology research only achieves economic and competitive goals, research in science and technology contributes to the solutions of countless social problems. The success of American science speaks to the global status of the United States of America. Currently, American science seems to be on a downtrend as European researchers are gaining ground on the research of American institutes of science and Congress continues to kick scientific goals down the curb. The implications of such a downtrend are disturbing. Stagnation of American ingenuity and desire to know more of the universe will occur if the United States Congress does not act to fund prominent programs in science and technology. A significantly small segment of American society, the conservatives in Congress, is crushing the hopes and dreams of a nation wishing to satiate its desire to observe the mind of god.

Works Cited

Krier 8 Blank, Steve. "The Endless Frontier: U.S. Science and National Industrial Policy (Part 1)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-blank/science-and-industry_b_2471971.html>. Ingber, Donald. "Commentary." The Chronicle of Higher Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. <http://chronicle.com/article/Science-Driven-Innovation-The/142785/>. "In Our View: Investment in Science Pays." The Columbian. N.p., 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. <http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/nov/20/in-our-view-investment-inscience-pays/>. Kant, Immanuel, and J. M. D. Meiklejohn. The critique of pure reason. Raleigh, N.C.: Alex Catalogue, 199. Print. Kennedy, Donald. "Science the Endless Frontier: Learning from the Past and Designing for the Future." archive.cspo.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://archive.cspo.org/products/conferences/bush/fulltexthighlights.pdf>. King, David. "The Scientific Impact of Nations." Nature. N.p., 14 July 2004. Web. 5 Dec. 2013. <http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v430/n6997/full/430311a.html>. Lane, Neal F. "Want to Boost the Economy? Invest in Science." www.nytimes.com. The New York Times, 28 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Lemnios, Zachary. "Vital to invest in scientific research." The Hill. N.p., 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. <http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/189486-vital-to-invest-inscientific-research>. Stokes, Donald. "Science the Endless Frontier: Learning from the Past and Designing for the Future." archive.cspo.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://archive.cspo.org/products/conferences/bush/fulltexthighlights.pdf>. "World's Largest Super Collider: Abandoned." Sometimes Interesting. N.p., 31 Jan. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. <http://sometimes-interesting.com/2012/01/31/worlds-largest-super-colliderabandoned/>.