Scientific Freedom: The Elixir of Civilization (Braben Donald W.)(Pevná vazba)

A radical and timely proposal for reinvigorating transformative scientific discovery.So rich was the scientific harvest of the early 20th century that it transformed entire industries and economies. Max Planck laid the foundation for quantum physics, Barbara McClintock for modern genetics, Linus Pauling for chemistry—the list goes on.In the 1970s, the nature of scientific work started to change. Increases in public funding for scientific research brought demands that spending be justified, a system of peer review that selected only the research proposals promising the greatest returns, and a push for endless short-term miracles instead of in-depth, boundary-pushing research. A vicious spiral of decline began.In Scientific Freedom, Donald W. Braben presents a framework to find and support cutting-edge, much-needed scientific innovation. Braben—who led British Petroleum’s Venture Research initiative, which aimed to identify and aid researchers challenging current scientific thinking—explains:The conditions that catalyzed scientific research in the early 20th centuryThe costs to society of our current research modelThe changing role of the university as a research institutionHow BP’s Venture Research initiative succeeded by minimizing bureaucracy and peer review, and the program’s impactThe selection, budget, and organizational criteria for implementing a Venture Research program today.Even in the earliest stages, transformative and groundbreaking research can look u
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