[jude24]

Much of what we take for granted - including this laptop on which I am now typing my reply - is rooted in Cold War era defense research projects and Apollo moon landing technology.

Do we want to miss this technical advances? I don't think our military can afford not to subsidize pure and applied science.

I am a little biased, though, as someone who earned a B.S. in Chemistry.

[raj bhatia]

"Much of what we take for granted - including this laptop on which I am now typing my reply - is rooted in Cold War era defense research projects and Apollo moon landing technology"

More importantly, most it it was obscure theoretical science a few decades ago. Without a sound theoretical basis, even the fundamental devices would fail, let alone a laptop with layers of complexity.

[Logophile]

Much of what we take for granted - including this laptop on which I am now typing my reply - is rooted in Cold War era defense research projects and Apollo moon landing technology.

I used to believe that too. However, after years in academia, I am not so sure.

It appears to me that much of the research money spent in the universities is wasted. Perhaps worse, the universities, in their lust for government research money, have neglected teaching.

Do we want to miss this technical advances? I don't think our military can afford not to subsidize pure and applied science.

I do not doubt that the government has an obligation to fund military research.

I am a little biased, though, as someone who earned a B.S. in Chemistry.

My degrees are in Chemical Engineering.