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75 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 15 (1999-2000)
The Profit of Scientific Discovery and Its Normative Implications

handle is hein.journals/chknt75 and id is 31 raw text is: THE PROFIT OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY AND ITS NORMATIVE IMPLICATIONS SHELDON KRIMSKY* INTRODUCTION Until the late nineteenth century, the profession of scientist in Western societies was comprised almost exclusively of men from the propertied classes or bourgeoisie who were educated at the elite European universities. It was a calling of sorts, not unlike the ministry, for those with means and pedigree who could afford the luxury of investigating the workings of the universe by expanding and challenging their intellect. There was no vast wealth to be made- maybe a comfortable living at the peak of one's career. With the rise of federal land grant colleges in the United States and the expansion of free national universities throughout the world, new scientific career options were created for people of diverse socio- economic status. Through much of the early twentieth century a career in academic science was much like a monastic order. The pursuit of knowledge, the sharing of its fruits, the gratification of self- enlightenment and mentoring students were all the reward one required to sustain and nurture a career. The goals of science were already being recast during the Baconian period in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the distinction was made between experiments of light that seek to discover the causes of things, and experiments of fruit that apply the knowledge to practical ends.1 The new European nation states began to recognize the practical significance of scientific discovery in areas such as weaponry, mining and transportation. Building on the * Professor, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy, Tufts University. The author's writings have focused on the linkage between science and technology, ethics and values, as well as public policy. The author's latest book is titled Hormonal Chaos: The Scientific and Social Origins of the Environmental Endocrine Hypothesis. 1. See HANBURY BROWN, THE WISDOM OF SCIENCE: ITS RELEVANCE TO CULTURE AND RELIGION (1986).

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