THE decline in the importance of science in the national psyche has been evident for some three decades. Yet the simple proposition that science is the cornerstone of a knowledge-based society is accepted and is increasingly promoted as fundamental if Australia is to take its place at the top level of nations in the 21st century. This was not just an argument about more university funds and encouraging increased research and development spending. It was more a wake-up call that the society Australians want in the next century will not come about by accident. It requires understanding of a range of complex issues and planning to ensure that the climate for achieving progress can be created.
Science is a key part of the debate.
It should come as no surprise to politicians that social and economic well-being depends on knowledge and its application. Yet it is evident that politicians from the Prime Minister down have felt, publicly at least, safe to ignore the implications of that precept. It was physicist Max Planck who made the point that scientific discovery and scientific knowledge have been achieved only by those who have gone in pursuit of it without any practical purpose in view. Scientists suggest that implicit in this argument is the idea that support for basic research at a world-class level should be provided as a public responsibility. This is a far cry from the spirit in the 1940s that led to the establishment of the Australian National University, motivated by a national belief in the need for Australia to contribute to world-class research into medicine and the physical sciences.