BASIC BUT ESSENTIAL
Mar 31, 2022
4 minutes
By Tao Xing
Copyedited by G.P. Wilson
‘To have the applications of a science, the science itself must exist.” This argument was made by American physicist Henry Augustus Rowland when delivering a speech, titled A Plea for Pure Science, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on August 15, 1883.
Pure science, also known as basic science or basic research, aims to improve scientific theories in order to better understand and predict natural phenomena and the processes by which natural resources are transformed. Mathematics, physics and chemistry are all forms of this research approach.
In the speech, Rowland called on Americans not to
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