Playful and purposeful, pure and applied

Posted on 22 April 2013 by John

From Edwin Land, inventor of the Polaroid camera:

… applied science, purposeful and determined, and pure science, playful and freely curious, continuously support and stimulate each other. The great nation of the future will be the one which protects the freedom of pure science as much as it encourages applied science.

3 thoughts on “Playful and purposeful, pure and applied”

Thomas Eichberger

22 April 2013 at 14:17

I like this statement.
Thx:-)
Eve

23 April 2013 at 07:25

I’m applying for postdocs soon, so hopefully NIH and NSERC agree!
Frank Wilhoit

24 April 2013 at 06:43

Ergo, there will in the future be no great nations. I had conjectured this, but it is nice to see an elegant proof.

Comments are closed.