Science is a sober business. It’s about curing cancer and heart disease. It’s
about eradicating poverty and feeding the world. It’s about making us live
longer.
This, at least, is how most scientists justify science. By default, science
that doesn’t benefit people either physically or economically is seen as less
serious and therefore less substantial—and less worthy of funding.
Many of us who participate in this “other” science, the benefits of which are
neither immediate nor obvious, justify our work by calling it “pure” or “basic”.
We argue to potential backers that our seemingly arcane activities will somehow
reap…
