Basic research
Part of a series on |
Science |
---|
This is a subseries on philosophy. In order to explore related topics, please visit navigation. |
Basic research, also called pure research, fundamental research, basic science, or pure science, is a type of
In addition to innovations, basic research also serves to provide insight into nature around us and allows us to respect its innate value.[4] The development of this respect is what drives conservation efforts. Through learning about the environment, conservation efforts can be strengthened using research as a basis.[5] Technological innovations can unintentionally be created through this as well, as seen with examples such as kingfishers' beaks affecting the design for high speed bullet train in Japan.[6]
Overview
Despite smart people working on this problem for 50 years, we're still discovering surprisingly basic things about the earliest history of our world. It's quite humbling. — Matija Ćuk, scientist at the SETI Institute and lead researcher, November 2016[7]
Basic research advances fundamental knowledge about the world. It focuses on creating and refuting or supporting theories that explain observed phenomena. Pure research is the source of most new scientific ideas and ways of thinking about the world. It can be exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory; however, explanatory research is the most common.[citation needed]
Basic research generates new ideas, principles, and theories, which may not be immediately utilized but nonetheless form the basis of progress and development in different fields. Today's computers, for example, could not exist without research in pure mathematics conducted over a century ago, for which there was no known practical application at the time. Basic research rarely helps practitioners directly with their everyday concerns; nevertheless, it stimulates new ways of thinking that have the potential to revolutionize and dramatically improve how practitioners deal with a problem in the future.[citation needed]
History
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2023) |
By country
The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (October 2017) |
In the United States, basic research is funded mainly by federal government and done mainly at universities and institutes.[8] As government funding has diminished in the 2010s, however, private funding is increasingly important.[9]
Basic versus applied science
Applied science focuses on the development of technology and techniques. In contrast, basic science develops scientific knowledge and predictions, principally in natural sciences but also in other empirical sciences, which are used as the scientific foundation for applied science. Basic science develops and establishes information to predict phenomena and perhaps to understand nature, whereas applied science uses portions of basic science to develop interventions via technology or technique to alter events or outcomes.[10][11] Applied and basic sciences can interface closely in research and development.[12][13] The interface between basic research and applied research has been studied by the National Science Foundation.
A worker in basic scientific research is motivated by a driving curiosity about the unknown. When his explorations yield new knowledge, he experiences the satisfaction of those who first attain the summit of a mountain or the upper reaches of a river flowing through unmapped territory. Discovery of truth and understanding of nature are his objectives. His professional standing among his fellows depends upon the originality and soundness of his work. Creativeness in science is of a cloth with that of the poet or painter.[14]
It conducted a study in which it traced the relationship between basic scientific research efforts and the development of major innovations, such as oral contraceptives and videotape recorders. This study found that basic research played a key role in the development in all of the innovations. The number of basic science research[clarification needed] that assisted in the production of a given innovation peaked between 20 and 30 years before the innovation itself. While most innovation takes the form of applied science and most innovation occurs in the private sector, basic research is a necessary precursor to almost all applied science and associated instances of innovation. Roughly 76% of basic research is conducted by universities.[15]
A distinction can be made between basic science and disciplines such as medicine and technology.
The
See also
- Blue skies research
- Hard and soft science
- Metascience
- Normative science
- Physics
- Precautionary principle
- Pure mathematics
- Pure Chemistry
References
- ^ "What is basic research?" (PDF). National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
- ^ "Curiosity creates cures: The value and impact of basic research Archived October 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health.
- ^ "ICSU position statement: The value of basic scientific research" Archived 2017-05-06 at the Wayback Machine, International Council for Science, December 2004.
- OCLC 1333131287.
- PMID 23574343.
- ^ "High Speed Train Inspired by the Kingfisher — Innovation — AskNature". asknature.org. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
- ^ Jacqueline Ronson (November 1, 2016). "Why is the Earth Tilted? New Theory Offers Clues on a Dizzy Moment". Inverse. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ Ganapati, Priya (2008-08-27). "Bell Labs kills fundamental physics research". Wired. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
- ^ William J. Broad (March 15, 2014). "Billionaires with big ideas are privatizing American science". The New York Times. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
- ^ PMID 10704471.
- ^ PMID 19790950.
- ^ Gerard Piel, "Science and the next fifty years", § "Applied vs basic science", Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 1954 Jan;10(1):17–20, p 18.
- ^ Ruth-Marie E Fincher, Paul M Wallach & W Scott Richardson, "Basic science right, not basic science lite: Medical education at a crossroad", Journal of General Internal Medicine, Nov 2009;24(11):1255–58, abstract: "Thoughtful changes in education provide the opportunity to improve understanding of fundamental sciences, the process of scientific inquiry, and translation of that knowledge to clinical practice".
- ^ "What is basic research?" (PDF). National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
- ISBN 978-0-674-04971-0.
- ^ PMID 16508048.
- PMID 3348249.
- PMID 17045377.
- S2CID 25401644.
- PMID 7089600.
- S2CID 24260908.
- PMID 9646019.
- ^ S2CID 224835675.
- ^
Lester S King (May 1983). "Medicine in the USA: Historical vignettes: XI: Medicine seeks to be 'scientific'". JAMA. 249 (18): 2475–9. PMID 6341631.
- PMID 9276588.
- PMID 9933889.
- PMID 15372724.
- PMID 15687745. Archived from the originalon 2005-11-04. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
- PMID 18528492.
- PMID 21223568.
- PMID 21356064.
- PMID 16898206.
- PMID 16835045.
- PMID 19534788.
- PMID 15864285.
- PMID 20367864.
- The Royal Societywebsite, accessed 22 Sep 2013.
Further reading
- Levy, David M. (2002). "Research and Development". In