Discover
/
Article

Science and secrecy

MAR 01, 1953
The following remarks by Atomic Energy Commissioner Smyth are taken from an address delivered last December 15th at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in dedication of that laboratory’s new proton accelerator, the Cosmotron.
Henry DeWolf Smyth

It is often useful to distinguish between basic science and applied science, or technology. There are many ways of making this distinction. Perhaps the simplest is in terms of objective and motivation. The objective of science is to understand the laws of nature, whereas the objective of technology is the immediate improvement of the material condition of man.

This article is only available in PDF format

More about the authors

Henry DeWolf Smyth, Atomic Energy Commission.

Related content
/
Article
A half century after the discovery of Hawking radiation, we are still dealing with the quantum puzzle it exposed.
/
Article
Since the discovery was first reported in 1999, researchers have uncovered many aspects of the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear.
/
Article
Metrologists are using fundamental physics to define units of measure. Now NIST has developed new quantum sensors to measure and realize the pascal.
/
Article
Nanoscale, topologically protected whirlpools of spins have the potential to move from applications in spintronics into quantum science.
This Content Appeared In
pt-cover_1953_03.jpeg

Volume 6, Number 3

Get PT newsletters in your inbox

pt_newsletter_card_blue.png
PT The Week in Physics

A collection of PT's content from the previous week delivered every Monday.

pt_newsletter_card_darkblue.png
PT New Issue Alert

Be notified about the new issue with links to highlights and the full TOC.

pt_newsletter_card_pink.png
PT Webinars & White Papers

The latest webinars, white papers and other informational resources.

By signing up you agree to allow AIP to send you email newsletters. You further agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.