The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge

by Abraham Flexner and Robbert Dijkgraaf

Book Overview

A short, provocative book about why "useless" science often leads to humanity's greatest technological breakthroughs

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691174768
• ISBN13: 9780691174761
• Release Date: February 2017
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 104 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.6" x 7.1"