LEADER 03258nam 22004815 450 001 9910163941503321 005 20190523123322.0 024 7 $a10.1515/9781400884629 035 $a(CKB)3710000001024792 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC4802076 035 $a(DE-B1597)479728 035 $a(OCoLC)968468635 035 $a(OCoLC)984664924 035 $a(DE-B1597)9781400884629 035 $a(Perlego)739687 035 $a(EXLCZ)993710000001024792 100 $a20190523d2017 fg 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcnu|||||||| 181 $2rdacontent 182 $2rdamedia 183 $2rdacarrier 200 14$aThe Usefulness of Useless Knowledge /$fAbraham Flexner 210 1$aPrinceton, NJ : $cPrinceton University Press, $d[2017] 210 4$dİ2017 215 $a1 online resource (105 pages) 311 08$a0-691-17476-8 311 08$a1-4008-8462-4 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references. 327 $tFrontmatter -- $tContents -- $tThe World of Tomorrow / $rDijkgraaf, Robbert -- $tThe Usefulness of Useless Knowledge / $rFlexner, Abraham -- $tAbout the Authors -- $tFurther Reading 330 $aA short, provocative book about why "useless" science often leads to humanity's greatest technological breakthroughsA forty-year tightening of funding for scientific research has meant that resources are increasingly directed toward applied or practical outcomes, with the intent of creating products of immediate value. In such a scenario, it makes sense to focus on the most identifiable and urgent problems, right? Actually, it doesn't. 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 helped bring Albert Einstein to the United States, describes a great paradox of scientific research. The search for answers to deep questions, motivated solely by curiosity and without concern 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.This brief book includes Flexner's timeless 1939 essay alongside a new companion essay by Robbert Dijkgraaf, the Institute's current director, in which he shows that Flexner's defense of the value of "the unobstructed pursuit of useless knowledge" may be even more relevant today than it was in the early twentieth century. Dijkgraaf describes how basic research has led to major transformations in the past century and explains why it is an essential precondition of innovation and the first step in social and cultural change. He makes the case that society can achieve deeper understanding and practical progress today and tomorrow only by truly valuing and substantially funding the curiosity-driven "pursuit of useless knowledge" in both the sciences and the humanities. 606 $aResearch 615 0$aResearch. 676 $a001.4 686 $aAK 25200$2rvk 700 $aFlexner$b Abraham, $0256248 701 $aDijkgraaf$b Robbert$061110 801 0$bDE-B1597 801 1$bDE-B1597 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910163941503321 996 $aThe Usefulness of Useless Knowledge$92890414 997 $aUNINA