ALLEN V. ASTIN 



reproduce the event or phenomenon? Inquiry is the heart of all 

 scientific research. 



Now, what is meant by basic research? Of course, it is a 

 class of this inquisitive activity. It is characterized, I believe, 

 only by the intensity or depth of the inquiry. We consider, 

 then, the degree to which the researcher explores the event or 

 phenomenon and the clarity with which he examines his own 

 procedures and observations. Thus, when I speak of basic re- 

 search I speak of an inquisitive scientific activity which gives 

 the investigator the right to question all aspects of the data, the 

 procedure, and the interpretation. The investigator is thus free, 

 in fact is encouraged, to pursue a line inquiry to the outer edge 

 of knowledge. To the extent that he does so, he is engaging in 

 basic research. The foundation for basic research becomes a 

 frame of mind, limited by intelligence and talent, from which 

 comes a continuous challenge to authority to prove itself and 

 an alertness for new and better explanations of things as they 

 are. 



You can see how difficult is the position of the basic 

 researcher under such a definition. Everything we know is 

 inadequate. Everything we do should be done better. Every- 

 thing we accept could be understood more fully. The basic 

 researcher in science is today in an unusually difficult position. 

 He must undertake his inquiry under conditions peculiar to 

 our technological age, an age in which science is valued princi- 

 pally for political-utilitarian-economic effects and much less for 

 its intellectuality. In such an age, the basic researcher has found 

 his right of inquiry justified in somewhat unrealistic terms. 



I know this to be true especially when it comes to basic 

 research in government laboratories. The government basic 

 researcher is a part of a larger structure devoted to some social 

 good. His activities are justified, and rightly so, to adminis- 

 trators and legislators in terms of his ultimate contribution to 



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