Discussion Questions for the Classroom

Food for Thought:

• Some basic scientific research has no foreseeable practical value other than "knowledge for knowledge's sake".
• Many technological, medical, and scientific breakthoughs were made possible only due to the knowledge gained by prior basic research.

Discussion Questions:

1. Can our nation afford to spend millions of dollars on research that may have no practical benefit?

2. Should educational institutions concentrate on basic research, or should they be allowed to concentrate on research programs that might be more profitable in the end?

3. Should Congress be allowed to tell the NSF and other research-funding organizations what types of scientific research should be supported?

4. Does industry bear a responsibility to support basic research, since its technological and medical advances are often the result of someone else's basic work?