The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge PDF
By:Abraham Flexner
Published on 2017-02-06 by Princeton University Press
A 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.
This Book was ranked at 11 by Google Books for keyword Literature Fiction Amish Mennonite novel.
Book ID of The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge's Books is qAdpDQAAQBAJ, Book which was written byAbraham Flexnerhave ETAG "W54e+Hy6Y90"
Book which was published by Princeton University Press since 2017-02-06 have ISBNs, ISBN 13 Code is 9781400884629 and ISBN 10 Code is 1400884624
Reading Mode in Text Status is true and Reading Mode in Image Status is true
Book which have "104 Pages" is Printed at BOOK under CategoryScience
Book was written in en
eBook Version Availability Status at PDF is true and in ePub is true
Book Preview
Download The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge PDF Free
Download The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge Books Free
Download The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge Free
Download The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge PDF
Download The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge Books
