Science at a New University
Ten years ago there would probably have been little question about the value of the experimental sciences in a university devoted to public affairs and the liberal arts. Today this is an issue and there are reasons why it should be. To provide and sustain facilities and instruments for research, even of a modest sort, is costly. There is, too, the complaint that research is often a t odds with the commitment to teach; and it is usually the teaching which suffers. This is the case in every academic field, hut it seems to be particularly acute in the "hard" sciences. Moreover, since government and industry have long taken a special interest in the experimental sciences, private empire building is a temptation to which departments or members of departments have sometimes succumbed. Beyond this, however, there is a growing uneasiness about the role of science both in the world at large and in higher education. Quite apart from the technological Frankensteins which science has rather absentmindedly begotten, the question is being raised again today, as it was in t,he 19th century, about the value of scientific knowledge-scientific lcnowledge in itself as a liberal and humane thing, and apart from the manipulative power it provides. I n one of his last essays, Schroedinger entertained the possibility that contemporary science might he mounting another, hut more monumental, ptolomaic illusion. Whether this is or is not a likely possibility, i t is clear that the various branches of the experimental science are becoming more remote, esoteric, and inaccessible to all tbose who do not live and work in them; and it is becoming increasingly difficult to translate into the common language of public debate the concepts and discoveries generated at the different frontiers of research. And what might he called the politics of science gives all of these concerns a greater weight. Whether it is a matter of the public money which goes into experimental work (classified or unclassified), or into putting men on the moon, or a matter of the influence by scientists on decisions about public purposes and projects, there is a politics of science which, would be risky for a free society to disregard. Crucial decisions have been and will be made by those who have litt,le scientific knowledge acting on the advice of others who are supposed to have much. If science develops as it has in the past, the political power of scientists, ,and the dependency upon them of those who are not,' will continue to grow unless effective communications are maintained and
Sangamon &ate University is a new free-st,anding, senior level University which opened its doors (after one year of planning) in September, 1970. Under our opening mandate, the University is committed t,o involvement in the Public Affairs issues of today.
provocative opinion developed between the sciences and all of the other liberal and humane disciplines. Do the experimental sciences have a place a t a Public Affairs University such as ours' and, if so, what place should they have? Our opinion is that they do have a place because of the public affairs and liberal arts orientation of this university. Our hope is that one of the major concerns here will he to recover the healthy intercourse between the humanities and the sciences which the centripetal tendencies of scientific research, and the distaste for science among many of those in the humanities, has tended to disrupt. We do not think that any serious consideration or reconsideration of the contemporary human image can be made without adequate representation from all of the sciences. We also feel that this representation cannot be made effectively in the absence of working scientists. We think that this representation is of particular importance given the public affairs commitments of this university. But, why should it not be possible to study any of the sciences wit,hout the more or less elaborate facilities which it seems to demand? I s there not a sufficient accumulation of data and conclusions to provide material for analysis, reflection and discussion without recourse t,o research projects and all that this implies? I n effect, does science have to be "wet" in order to be science? Our opinion is that it does. Whitehead has remarked that science has been characterized by a peculiar commerce between the most extreme abstract,ions and the most minute observations of t,he concrete. Further, and this seems to be particularly true of t,he "hard" sciences, the growth of science has been a progress in knowledge about and appreciation for "the evidence of things not seen"-knowledge of the more and more remot,e causes underlying, and sometimes contradicting, common experience. If science really is a commerce between the abstract and the concrete then to have a "paper" science would be to encourage having only half a science or less, since it would leave out more than half the whole. And if science is an inquiry into "the evidence of things not seen" then it cannot have vitality unless it continues to move into the unfamiliar territory on the frontiers of research. This may well he t,he case with other sciences as well, but our feeling is that the vicarious experience of research through the literature is much less feasible with sciences such as physics, chemistry, and biology than i t might be, for example, in the social scienceswhere the data will often be closer to common experience. But if research facilities are needed, do they have to be costly? Science began in a more or less modest way,
Volume 48, Number 9, September 1971
/
609
No doubt some frontiers of science are sfill open to investigation with simple instruments and mformation processing devices. But there are not many of them. Instruments available today make it possible to obtain more information more accurately and to process it more rapidly and effectively. Furthermore, many instruments enable students to do genuine and quite sophisticated research much earher than would have been feasible twenty years ago; and the questions posed in almost every area today are less simphstic than they used to be. I n short, contemporary instrumentation makes the research experience of the student both more rewarding and more authentic than it once was and prepares them better for the careers they will eventually pursue. We are very much concerned that the experience of science be authentic, critical, and interdisciplinary and
610
/
lournol o f Chemical Education
that it be effectively related to the needs and aspirations of the individual students as well as to those of the communit,y. We do not wish to have any private empire building take place a t this university or to permit a situation to develop in which there is no effect,ivecommunication either between the different branches of the experimental sciences themselves or between the sciences and the other liberal disciplines. We feel that the role of science and the allocation of resources for the sciences should be very much a matter of debate for the entire university community.
ond
John Walsh David SchaeRer
Songomon Stote University Springfield, Illinois 62703
