What is Basic Research? Insights from Historical Semantics
What is Basic Research? Insights from Historical Semantics
复制标题
什么是基础研究？
作者：
Désirée Schauz
几年来，基础研究的概念一直受到攻击。然而，尽管这一概念的意义尚存疑问，但基础研究继续被用作科学研究中的分析范畴。但基础研究到底是什么？基础研究和应用研究的区别是什么？本文试图通过应用历史语义学来回答这些问题。我认为基础研究的概念并非产生于纯科学的传统。相反，这个新概念出现在19世纪末和20世纪初，当时科学家们正面临着对科学的社会效用越来越高的期望。科学家们使用这个概念是为了试图弥合实用的承诺和科学努力的不确定性之间的差距。只是在1945年之后，当美国的科学政策塑造了基础研究的概念时，这个概念才恢复到纯科学的旧理想。纯粹话语的复兴是由当时美国特定的历史形势造成的：第二次世界大战后联邦研究政策改革的需要，原子时代科技伦理困境的新维度，以及冷战时期紧张的政治气候。
For some years now, the concept of basic research has been under attack. Yet although the significance of the concept is in doubt, basic research continues to be used as an analytical category in science studies. But what exactly is basic research? What is the difference between basic and applied research? This article seeks to answer these questions by applying historical semantics. I argue that the concept of basic research did not arise out of the tradition of pure science. On the contrary, this new concept emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a time when scientists were being confronted with rising expectations regarding the societal utility of science. Scientists used the concept in order to try to bridge the gap between the promise of utility and the uncertainty of scientific endeavour. Only after 1945, when United States science policy shaped the notion of basic research, did the concept revert to the older ideals of pure science. This revival of the purity discourse was caused by the specific historical situation in the US at that time: the need to reform federal research policy after the Second World War, the new dimension of ethical dilemmas in science and technology during the atomic era, and the tense political climate during the Cold War.
DOI：
10.1016/j.mce.2004.09.001
发表时间：
2004-10
期刊：
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
影响因子：
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作者：
Joan Waugh
通讯作者：
Joan Waugh