ABSTRACT
Historically, the predominant conception is of fundamental research as an activity having social utility in and of itself, not unlike, e.g., pyramids or great works of art, music or literature. The intrinsic-utility model not only provides a more operational approach to the determination of the social demand for research than does the investment-in-knowledge model. The chapter explains the disproportionate allocation of resources to science relative to art on grounds of inelasticity of supply of talent, however, requires that the distribution of artistic talent be substantially more highly skewed than the distribution of scientific talent. A more descriptive characterization of the evolving relationship between science and technology would emphasize reciprocity, multidirectional influences, and flows. Recognition of the very real value of research-front knowledge in the provision of directly valued goods and services, including advanced education, would serve to depoliticize science and would stimulate a more rational allocation of human talent to scientific and nonscientific pursuits.
