Scientific Objectivity Quotes
Congress was at the time considering the possibility of a National University. Dr. Eliot was one of the national leaders to kill the idea using oratory like this. Not the extreme sarcasm of the last sentence. At the time Congress was notorious for its conditioning appointments on almost any variable except merit.
This is almost the universal belief of scientists—religious or not. The faith of religion, if extended to science, does not give the person the tools of logic, empiricism, and deduction that is so critical for the scientist. The cleric, in contrast, requires faith. Politicians split. There are many who have the outlook of the scientist. However, there are also political ideologues, who want faithful adherence to the doctrine, as the theological leaders does, and does not subject the doctrine to analytic scrutiny.
At the time, this was a very political speech. Racism was rife in Germany and was being introduced into Italy by the Fascist government. Xenophobia was prevalent throughout Europe as WWI hatreds had been inflamed by the politicians. Bohr’s speech was considered a major attack on Fascism.
She was referring to scientists who might have personal moral judgments regarding a scientific issue like embryos, stem cells, and abortion or animal experiments that are different from that of the government at the time, might have their job threatened if they refused to personally perform a procedure that was offensive to them.
Most of the greatest scientific breakthroughs were motivated by a search for the truth, a desire to understand the world, and the joy of discovery, not utility. None the less, the results have had profound usefulness to humanity in most cases. After this basic research, there are other people who then specifically work to apply the basic research to improvement in the human condition. That is applied research. Each important basic research breakthrough spawns a host of applications that are then developed.
