Influence of the Past: An Interpretation of Recent Development in the Context of 200 Years of History

Abstract

Although the eighteenth century spoke bravely of internationalism in science, its scientists were put under heavy pressure by the rise of the nation-state. Ease of com munication in the nineteenth century made it seem as if sci ence were the product of an international community, while at the same time science was becoming more dependent on nationally divided institutions for support. When in the twentieth century the free flow of information ceased, it be came clear how closely science was tied to the various national units. The same pattern can be traced in the relation of basic to applied research. The eighteenth century saw the two brands of research as closely linked, but in the nineteenth spe cialization drove the two activities wide apart to form separate traditions. In the twentieth century military problems brought basic and applied research together again. Likewise the same pattern can be traced in the evolution of institutions within national units. The eighteenth century could envision com prehensive scientific institutions, but the nineteenth century created government, industrial, and university research institu tions in separate compartments. The problems of the mid- twentieth century are defined by the basic relations among the various institutions within the nation, the very relations which the peculiar characteristics of the nineteenth century had ob scured.