Ask questions not on the agenda
Explore ideas wherever they lead
Pursue goals because they're important

Create options not yet perceived

According to premier researcher Don Braben, these are the vital intellectual processes that underlie all human achievement, the kinds of risk-taking activities that have made our civilization what it is today. Yet, warns Braben, the same pioneer spirit that fueled our meteoric industrial and scientific growth is now being undermined by a growing climate of corporate caution and conformity.

In this groundbreaking manifesto on the importance of scientific freedom, Braben asserts that the greatest long-term risks facing humanity will not come from weapons of mass destruction, prolonged global war, devastating disease or famine, or even from extinction by a huge wayward meteor. Rather they will come from the debilitating attrition caused by the rising tides of bureaucracy and control that are steadily strangling human ingenuity and undermining our future.

Addressing this serious and growing problem, Pioneering Research: A Risk Worth Taking explains the urgent need to maintain both the originality and freedom of expression that is so vital to our economic growth and scientific development. Citing global trends and attitudes that currently threaten these conditions, Braben details some bold new initiatives that may offer a possible solution.

A compelling read for today's scientists, policy makers, and concerned laypeople, Braben's book will change our understanding of the politics of scientific achievement and expose the threat to our future from bureaucracy, paper trails, political correctness, lowest common denominator solutions, andaccountability-the invisible chains that bind the imagination and damage our society irreparably.

Since the 1950s, the federal government has relied on the peer review system for funding academic science. Peer review, however, is under attack for being a biased system that helps rich research universities get richer. As a remedy for these biases, university presidents and members of Congress have turned to the earmarking of science projects and facilities in the federal budget. Funding Science in America explores both the pros and the cons of the academic earmarking issue and explains why this issue has caused a rift within the nation's science community.

Since the 1950s, the federal government has relied on the peer review system for funding academic science. Peer review, however, is under attack for being a biased system that helps rich research universities get richer. As a remedy for these biases, university presidents and members of Congress have turned to the earmarking of science projects and facilities in the federal budget. Funding Science in America explores both the pros and the cons of the academic earmarking issue and explains why this issue has caused a rift within the nation's science community.

The United States government supports a broad range of scientific and engineering research and development R&D. Its purposes include addressing specific concerns such as national defence, health, safety, the environment, and energy security, as well as advancing knowledge generally, developing the scientific and engineering workforce and strengthening U.S. innovation and competitiveness in the global economy. The federal government has played an important role in supporting R&D efforts that have led to scientific breakthroughs and new technologies. This book examines the federal role in funding research and development in such areas as energy technology, colleges and universities, and others.

This volume is concerned with the intellectual intersections between the history and sociology of science and the history and sociology of accounting. The various chapters describe a broad shift from concerns for the scientific credentials of accounting to a recognition of the constitutive role that accounting plays for science. They explore the links between the ideals of scientific objectivity and different administrative and political values, look at laboratory practice in social context, and evaluate the emerging interest in the economics of science. The volume as a whole considers the implications of accounting for science, particularly given recent initiatives in the industrialized world to make science more accountable.

Scientific and technical knowledge and guidance influences not just policy related to science and technology, but also many of today's public policies as policymakers seek knowledge to enhance the quality of their decisions. Science and technology policy is concerned with the allocation of resources for and encouragement of scientific and engineering research and development, the use of scientific and technical knowledge to enhance the nation's response to societal challenges, and the education of Americans in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Science and engineering research and innovations are intricately linked to societal needs and the nation's economy in areas such as transportation, communication, agriculture, education, environment, health, defence, and jobs. As a result, policymakers are interested in almost every aspect of science and technology policy. The three branches of government; executive, congressional, and judiciary; depending on each branch's responsibility, use science and technology knowledge and guidance to frame policy issues, craft legislation, and govern. The science and engineering community, however, is not represented by one individual or organisation. On matters of scientific and technical knowledge and guidance, its opinions are consensus-based with groups of scientists and engineers coming together from different perspectives to debate an issue based on the available empirical evidence. In the end, consensus is achieved if there is widespread agreement on the evidence and its implications, which is conveyed to policymakers. Policymakers then determine, based on this knowledge and other factors, whether or not to take action and what actions to take. If there are major disagreements within large portions of the community, however, consensus is not yet achieved, and taking policy actions in response to a concern can be challenging. Several organisations, when requested by the federal government or Congress, provide formal science and technology policy advice: federal advisory committees, congressionally chartered honorific organisations, and federally funded research and development corporations. In addition, many other organisations and individuals -- international intergovernmental organisations, policy institutes/think tanks, the public, professional organisations, disciplinary societies, universities and colleges, advocacy, special interest, industry, trade associations, and labour -- also provide their thoughts. These organisations may agree on the scientific and technical knowledge regarding an issue, but disagree on what actions to take in response, as their values on a proposed policy may differ. Policymakers may be overwhelmed with an abundance of information from these organisations. Despite these challenges, scientific and technical knowledge and guidance can provide policymakers with an opportunity to make their decisions based on the best information available, along with other factors they might take into account, such as cultural, economic, and other values, so that societal and economic benefits are enhanced and losses are mitigated.

The Nobel Prizes have long been the most prestigious awards in the world of science. Established according to the wishes expressed in the will of Alfred Nobel (1895), the annual awards began in 1901. The Nobel Archives preserve the detailed study of the inner workings of the prize committees, and the archival documents, available for historical research since 1974, open the door to important new scholarship in the history and sociology of the prizes. Elisabeth Crawford was one of the first to gain access to the Nobel Archives at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and in this book she analyzes the early history of the prizes in physics and chemistry. Crawford sets out in detail the story of the intricate inner workings of the process whereby the prizewinners were selected. A fascinating picture of the contemporary international scientific establishment emerges, one shedding light on how the developing Nobel institution became enmeshed in speciality and other networks, notably those of Arrhenius and Mittag-Leffler, the two Swedish scientists who were best known internationally at the time. While the general development of disciplines and the standing of scientists in international and national communities heavily influenced the selection process, the cases presented in this book show that the specific choices of specialities, discoveries, and people to be honored were determined by the Swedish participants in the process. The question of how, after some initial uncertainties, the Nobel Prizes became synonymous with the highest achievements in science and culture is also addressed. This detailed study of the birth of what have become science’s highest accolades will interest historians and scientists alike.

Utilizing environmental archival materials from the UK, State, Science and the Skies presents a groundbreaking historical account of the development of a state science of atmospheric pollution. Offers the most extensive historical and geographical account of atmospheric government and pollution in Britain, available today Presents archival material from 150 years of British history that represents an original contribution to our knowledge of the history of science and government Develops an innovative combination of Foucauldian history of government with a history of atmospheric science Raises crucial questions about the nature of state/science relations and the conditions under which environmental knowledge is produced

Dreaming of a successful future in science? This practical guide for students, postdocs and professors offers a unique step-by-step approach to help you get the funding to start or consolidate your own research career. From preparing and writing effective career grant applications, to understanding how funding agencies will evaluate them, it provides guidance to enhance your skills and combine them with those of others who can support you on the road to success. Learn how to generate great original ideas for your application, strategically prepare and optimise your plan and resume, develop a convincing title and abstract, convert reviewers' comments to your advantage, and succeed at a selection interview. With numerous valuable tips, real-life stories and novel practical exercises, this must-read guide provides everything you need to optimise your funding opportunities and take responsibility for your own career in science.

Team leaders should be full of ideas for new research projects and inspire a research group to achieve great results. This practical guide for team leaders, and those who aspire to become team leader, offers a unique approach to help readers develop research and become a more independent and productive investigator. Readers can learn how to recruit and develop talented team members, how to negotiate contracts and manage projects, and how to create wider visibility and publicity for their science. From human resources and project finances, legal affairs and knowledge transfer to public engagement and media performance, the book provides guidance to enhance skills and combine them with those of support staff on the road to success. With numerous valuable tips, real-life stories and practical exercises, this must-read guide provides everything needed to take responsibility for leading research teams. This title is available as Open Access via Cambridge Core.

The phrase 'here be monsters' or 'here be dragons' is commonly believed to have been used on ancient maps to indicate unexplored territories which might hide unknown beasts. This book maps and explores places between science and politics that have been left unexplored, sometimes hiding in plain sight - in an era when increased emphasis was put on 'openness'. The book is rooted in a programme of research funded by the Leverhulme Trust entitled: 'Making Science Public: Challenges and opportunities, which runs from 2014 to 2017. One focus of our research was to critically question the assumption that making science more open and public could solve various issues around scientific credibility, trust, and legitimacy. Chapters in this book explore the risks and benefits of this perspective with relation to transparency, responsibility, experts and faith. -- .

Is the United States falling behind in the global race for scientific and engineering talent? Are U.S. employers facing shortages of the skilled workers that they need to compete in a globalized world? Such claims from some employers and educators have been widely embraced by mainstream media and political leaders, and have figured prominently in recent policy debates about education, federal expenditures, tax policy, and immigration. "Falling Behind?" offers careful examinations of the existing evidence and of its use by those involved in these debates.

These concerns are by no means a recent phenomenon. Examining historical precedent, Michael Teitelbaum highlights five episodes of alarm about "falling behind" that go back nearly seventy years to the end of World War II. In each of these episodes the political system responded by rapidly expanding the supply of scientists and engineers, but only a few years later political enthusiasm or economic demand waned. Booms turned to busts, leaving many of those who had been encouraged to pursue science and engineering careers facing disheartening career prospects. Their experiences deterred younger and equally talented students from following in their footsteps--thereby sowing the seeds of the next cycle of alarm, boom, and bust.

"Falling Behind?" examines these repeated cycles up to the present, shedding new light on the adequacy of the science and engineering workforce for the current and future needs of the United States.

Reimagining transparency and secrecy in the era of digital data When total data surveillance delimits agency and revelations of political wrongdoing fail to have consequences, is transparency the social panacea liberal democracies purport it to be? This book sets forth the provocative argument that progressive social goals would be better served by a radical form of secrecy, at least while state and corporate forces hold an asymmetrical advantage over the less powerful in data control. Clare Birchall asks: How might transparency actually serve agendas that are far from transparent? Can we imagine a secrecy that could act in the service of, rather than against, a progressive politics? To move beyond atomizing calls for privacy and to interrupt the perennial tension between state security and the public's right to know, Birchall adapts Edouard Glissant's thinking to propose a digital "right to opacity." As a crucial element of radical secrecy, she argues, this would eventually give rise to a "postsecret" society, offering an understanding and experience of the political that is free from the false choice between secrecy and transparency. She grounds her arresting story in case studies including the varied presidential styles of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump; the Snowden revelations; conspiracy theories espoused or endorsed by Trump; WikiLeaks and guerrilla transparency; and the opening of the state through data portals. Postsecrecy is the necessary condition for imagining, finally, an alternative vision of "the good," of equality, as neither shaped by neoliberal incarnations of transparency nor undermined by secret state surveillance. Not least, postsecrecy reimagines collective resistance in the era of digital data.

Thou Shalt Innovate profiles wondrous Israeli innovations that are collectively changing the lives of billions of people around the world and explores why Israeli innovators of all faiths feel compelled to make the world better.

This is the story of how Israelis are helping to feed the hungry, cure the sick, protect the defenseless, and make the desert bloom. Israel is playing a disproportionate role in helping solve some of the world s biggest challenges by tapping into the nation's soul: the spirit of tikkun olam the Jewish concept of repairing the world.

Following Start-Up Nation's account of Israel's incredibly prolific start-up scene, Thou Shalt Innovate tells the story of how Israeli innovation is making the whole world a better place. Israel has extraordinary innovators who are bound together by their desire to save lives and find higher purpose. In a part of the world that has more than its share of darkness, these stories are rays of light.

Hospitals today face a huge number of challenges, including new patterns of disease, rapidly evolving medical technologies, ageing populations and continuing budget constraints. This book is written by clinicians for clinicians and hospital managers, and those who design and operate hospitals. It sets out why hospitals need to change as the patients they treat and the technology to treat them changes. In a series of chapters by leading authorities in their field, it challenges existing models, reviews best practice from many countries and presents clear policy recommendations for policymakers and hospital administrators. It covers the main patient groups and conditions as well as those departments that make modern effective care possible, in imaging and laboratory medicine. Each chapter looks at patient pathways, aspects of workforce, required levels of specialisation and technology, and the opportunities and challenges for optimising the delivery of services in the hospital of the future. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

If the stories they tell about themselves are to be believed, all of the tech giants-Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon-were built from the ground up through hard work, a few good ideas, and the entrepreneurial daring to seize an opportunity when it presented itself. With searing wit and blistering commentary Bit Tyrants provides an urgent corrective to this froth of board room marketing copy that is so often passed off as analysis. For fans of corporate fairy-tales there are no shortage of official histories that celebrate the innovative genius of Steve Jobs, liberal commentators who fall over themselves to laude Bill Gates's selfless philanthropy, or politicians who will tell us to listen to Mark Zuckerberg for advice on how to protect our democracy from foreign influence. In this highly unauthorized account of the Big Five's origins, Rob Larson sets the record straight, and in the process shreds every focus-grouped bromide about corporate benevolence he could get his hands on. Those readers unwilling to smile and nod as every day we become more dependent on our phones and apps to do our chores, our jobs, and our socializing can take heart as Larson provides us with maps to all the shallow graves, skeleton filled closets, and invective laced emails Big Tech left behind on its ascent to power. His withering analysis will help readers crack the code of the economic dynamics that allowed these companies to become near-monopolies very early on, and, with a little bit of luck, his calls for digital socialism might just inspire a viral movement for online revolution.

After twenty-five years of preparation, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Geneva, is finally running its intensive scientific experiments into high-energy particle physics. These experiments, which have so captured the public's imagination, take the world of physics to a new energy level, the terascale, at which elementary particles are accelerated to one millionth of a percent of the speed of light and made to smash into each other with a combined energy of around fourteen trillion electron-volts. What new world opens up at the terascale? No one really knows, but the confident expectation is that radically new phenomena will come into view.
The kind of "big science" being pursued at CERN, however, is becoming ever more uncertain and costly. Do the anticipated benefits justify the efforts and the costs? This book aims to give a broad organizational and strategic understanding of the nature of "big science" by analyzing one of the major experiments that uses the Large Hadron Collider, the ATLAS Collaboration. It examines such issues as: the flow of "interlaced" knowledge between specialist teams; the intra- and inter-organizational dynamics of "big science"; the new knowledge capital being created for the workings of the experiment by individual researchers, suppliers, and e-science and ICTs; the leadership implications of a collaboration of nearly three thousand members; and the benefits for the wider societal setting.
This book aims to examine how, in the face of high levels of uncertainty and risk, ambitious scientific aims can be achieved by complex organizational networks characterized by cultural diversity, informality, and trust--and where "big science" can head next.

An urgent new warning from two bestselling security experts - and a gripping inside look at how governments, firms, and ordinary citizens can confront and contain the tyrants, hackers, and criminals bent on turning the digital realm into a war zone.

If the stories they tell about themselves are to be believed, all of the tech giants-Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon-were built from the ground up through hard work, a few good ideas, and the entrepreneurial daring to seize an opportunity when it presented itself. With searing wit and blistering commentary Bit Tyrants provides an urgent corrective to this froth of board room marketing copy that is so often passed off as analysis. For fans of corporate fairy-tales there are no shortage of official histories that celebrate the innovative genius of Steve Jobs, liberal commentators who fall over themselves to laude Bill Gates's selfless philanthropy, or politicians who will tell us to listen to Mark Zuckerberg for advice on how to protect our democracy from foreign influence. In this highly unauthorized account of the Big Five's origins, Rob Larson sets the record straight, and in the process shreds every focus-grouped bromide about corporate benevolence he could get his hands on. Those readers unwilling to smile and nod as every day we become more dependent on our phones and apps to do our chores, our jobs, and our socializing can take heart as Larson provides us with maps to all the shallow graves, skeleton filled closets, and invective laced emails Big Tech left behind on its ascent to power. His withering analysis will help readers crack the code of the economic dynamics that allowed these companies to become near-monopolies very early on, and, with a little bit of luck, his calls for digital socialism might just inspire a viral movement for online revolution.

American universities today serve as economic engines, performing the scientific research that will create new industries, drive economic growth, and keep the United States globally competitive. But only a few decades ago, these same universities self-consciously held themselves apart from the world of commerce. Creating the Market University is the first book to systematically examine why academic science made such a dramatic move toward the market. Drawing on extensive historical research, Elizabeth Popp Berman shows how the government--influenced by the argument that innovation drives the economy--brought about this transformation. Americans have a long tradition of making heroes out of their inventors. But before the 1960s and '70s neither policymakers nor economists paid much attention to the critical economic role played by innovation. However, during the late 1970s, a confluence of events--industry concern with the perceived deterioration of innovation in the United States, a growing body of economic research on innovation's importance, and the stagnation of the larger economy--led to a broad political interest in fostering invention. The policy decisions shaped by this change were diverse, influencing arenas from patents and taxes to pensions and science policy, and encouraged practices that would focus specifically on the economic value of academic science. By the early 1980s, universities were nurturing the rapid growth of areas such as biotech entrepreneurship, patenting, and university-industry research centers. Contributing to debates about the relationship between universities, government, and industry, Creating the Market University sheds light on how knowledge and politics intersect to structure the economy.

When the National Science Foundation funds research about the earth's crust and the Department of Energy supports studies on the disposal of nuclear wastes, what do they expect for their money? Most scientists believe that in such cases the government wants information for immediate use or directions for seeking future benefits from nature. Challenging this oversimplified view, Chandra Mukerji depicts a more complex interdependence between science and the state. She uses vivid examples from the heavily funded field of oceanography, particularly from recent work on seafloor hot springs and on ocean disposal of nuclear wastes, to raise questions about science as it is practiced and financed today. She finds that scientists act less as purveyors of knowledge to the government than as an elite and highly skilled talent pool retained to give legitimacy to U.S. policies and programs: scientists allow their authority to be projected onto government officials who use scientific ideas for political purposes. Writing in a crisp and jargon-free style, Mukerji reveals the peculiar mix of autonomy and dependency defined for researchers after World War II--a mix that has changed since then but that continues to shape the practical conduct of science. Scientists use their control over the scientific content of research to convince themselves of their autonomy and to achieve some power in their dealings with funding agencies, but they remain fundamentally dependent on the state. Mukerji argues that they constitute a kind of reserve force, like the Army or Navy reserves, paid by the government to do research only because science is politically essential to the workings of the modern state. This book is essential reading not only for sociologists and students of science and society, and for oceanographers, but also for every scientist whose work depends directly or indirectly on government support. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Are you applying for graduate school and feeling overwhelmed by the choices available to you and the complexity of the application process? This informative and humorous guide for life and earth science students offers comprehensive advice to help you prepare and increase your chances of success. Adopting a step-by-step approach, you will be guided through the entire application process, from undergraduate preparation and choice of graduate program, to funding, applying, scheduling a visit, and finally deciding which offer to accept. Based extensively on a comprehensive survey of graduate admissions programs across the United States, the advice offered is evidence-based and specific to the natural sciences. This jargon-free text ensures that prospective students are well prepared and make best use of all available resources to convince graduate programs and advisors that you are the best candidate.

There are many resources on grant writing in science, technology and medicine, but most do not provide the practical advice needed to write the narratives of grant proposals. Designed to help novice and experienced investigators write compelling narratives and acquire research funding, this is a detailed guide to the content, organisation, layout, phrasing, and scientific argumentation of narratives. The authors draw on more than twenty years of research and analysis of grant proposals, having worked extensively with investigators at different levels, from pre-doctoral students to senior scientists. They have used this experience to design a framework for scientific writing that you can apply directly to narratives. The guidelines and advice offered are applicable across many funding agencies, including the NIH and NSF. Featuring many real-life examples, the book covers a range of topics, from organisational alternatives to best practices in grammar and editing, overview visuals, and working with contributors.

Despite the global spread of nuclear hardware and knowledge, at least half of the nuclear weapons projects launched since 1970 have definitively failed, and even the successful projects have generally needed far more time than expected. To explain this puzzling slowdown in proliferation, Jacques E. C. Hymans focuses on the relations between politicians and scientific and technical workers in developing countries. By undermining the workers' spirit of professionalism, developing country rulers unintentionally thwart their own nuclear ambitions. Combining rich theoretical analysis, in-depth historical case studies of Iraq, China, Yugoslavia and Argentina and insightful analyses of current-day proliferant states, Achieving Nuclear Ambitions develops a powerful new perspective that effectively counters the widespread fears of a coming cascade of new nuclear powers.