Usefulness of Useless Knowledge

A forty-year restriction on funding for scientific research has led to resources increasingly being directed towards applied or practical outcomes, with the goal of creating products of immediate value. In such a scenario, it seems sensible to focus on the most easily identifiable and urgent problems. In fact, this is not the case. In his classic essay "The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge," Abraham Flexner, the founding director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the man who brought Albert Einstein to the United States, describes a great paradox of scientific research. The pursuit of answers to profound questions, motivated solely by curiosity and without regard for applications, often leads not only to the greatest scientific discoveries but also to the most revolutionary technological breakthroughs. In short: no quantum mechanics, no computer chips.