Should you care about particle physics or the Higgs boson?
December 2, 2008 | 10:39 am
In an era of tight budgets running up against emotionally charged needs: unemployment, cancer, and crumbling infastructure, why care about basic research, that branch of science done for knowledge’s sake?
The question been posed to particle physicists since at least the 1970s, but the documentary The Atom Smashers puts the question on the screen and brings forth some compelling answers from The New York Times science writer Natalie Angier in the film, readers of film’s review in the online publication “Worldchanging”, and by one of the film’s directors, Clayton Brown in his blog:
Julia’s article in Worldchanging addresses this notion. Her first line reads “Is there value in knowledge for the sake of knowledge?” In one of the comments posted at the end of the article, a reader called “sabik” writes
Of course, the problem is how to judge something that won’t have a practical application for decades or even centuries. It’s a question of what sort of intellectual landscape we are leaving for our children and grand-children – whether it’s rich and varied, pregnant with discoveries to be made, or impoverished and bare.
I think this is nicely said. I’ll mention something else along these lines that I may have referenced before somewhere in this blog, that addresses head-on the question of the intrinsic worth of “curiosity-driven” science, or pure research. When Robert Wilson (founder of Fermilab) was in the US Congress arguing for the funds that would allow Fermilab to be built, a senator repeatedly asked how Fermilab would contribute to the defense of the country. Finally, exasperated, Wilson said “It will not contribute to the defense of the country. But it will make the country worth defending.”
That’s Robert Wilson’s answer to the question.
Clayton Brown concludes his blog wondering if that answer was enough for people in the 1970s. Is it enough for them today? What do you think?
Tona Kunz
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2 Comments »
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
A common argument is that in truly innovative development, one never knows the seeds that need to be sown today in order to harvest the rewards tomorrow. This is the nature of research. Common examples of spin-offs from nuclear & particle physics research are things like Nuclear reactors, MRI scans, PET scans, Synchrotrons and even the internet. The net worth of MRI scans alone more than out-weighs the cost it took to build the LHC. I don’t even want to begin to estimate the economic contribution of the internet. The GRID computing infrastructure developed for processing data by CERN might one day be used to find cures for cancer, solve global warming, etc…, who knows? Is this a valid argument to do fundamental particle physics research however? In my opinion, no. War is also a strong accelerator for technological development. This does not mean we should go out and start them for this purpose. (Although sometimes I wonder about US foreign policy.)
The reason why we should continue to do fundamental research is because we are curious beings. There are some of us who demand more of our explanations of how the universe and humans came in to existence than from thousand year old scriptures which can be censored and edited at the whim of a man. The only paradigm of creation that has progressed in the last 1000 years is from science. In particular, thanks to particle physics & cosmology we know we have a rough idea of what is happening upto a billionth billionth second after the Big Bang. Before we have a possibility of understanding why we are here we must grasp the how part first. In a sense, fundamental research is the “religion” for the rational beings amongst us. The cost in running this religion is orders of magnitude less than the money disappearing into some others that I can think of.
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:31 am
As an undereducated layperson, I find the Mathmatical Elements of Particle Physics beyond my personal reach.
But that said, I still find the explainations of this feild to be One of the most Fascinating subjects I can Imagine.
Why we as a society would not Fund this research is beyond Me. To live and Not Question the Nature of this Existance is a waste of Human Potential. This underlieing truth of things may well be the only “Practical” thing We Really Need. The way the Quantum reacts with the Observer points towards the true Final Fronteer. As We learn more about the nature of matter it becomes more certain that All of this is intertwined more than the average man on the street cares to see. I for one see this as a call to Compassion,
the seed of Peace. Perhaps that is Why governments try to belittle it so, it cuts in on the divisive nature of control. All I can say is, Keep up the the Good Work, the Truth Shall Set Us Free.