Journal of Shanghai University (Social Science Edition)

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NobelNaturalSciencePrizeandBasicResearch

  

  • Online:2013-11-15 Published:2013-11-15

Abstract: Threeinterrelatedissuesareexploredinthispaper.Thefirstisaboutthecategoryofbasicre
search.Thepaperpointsoutthatthescopeofbasicresearchevolveswiththeprogressofthepracticeofscien
tificresearch.Basedonacloseexaminationofthehistoricaltransformationofmodernsciencefrom"academic
science"tothe"postacademicscience",itarguesthatthescopeofbasicresearchhasexpanded.Besides"
purebasicresearch",thereappearsthenewcategoryof"orientedbasicresearch".Thesetwocategoriesare
explainedandinterpretedinrelationtotheactualcasesofbasicresearchbyNobelLaureatesfornaturalscience
prize.ThesecondissueisaboutthepercentageofNobelLaureatesfornaturalscienceprizeinvolvedinbasic
research.ThroughastatisticalanalysisoftheNobelLaureatesfornaturalscienceprize,itfindsoutthatagainst
theapplicationresearch,ashighas90% ofthesescientistswereawardedtheprizesfortheirmajororiginala
chievementsinthebasicresearcharea.ThisfindingatteststotheNobelprize's"preference"forbasicresearch
andthesignificanceofbasicresearch.ThethirdissueconcernshowtheseNobelLaureatescarryoutthebasic
research.Supportedbyconcreteandrichmaterialsfromtheirintellectuallife,thepapertriestorevealhow
theseNobelLaureatesmanagedtomakethemajorachievementsthataretrulyinnovativeandgroundbreaking.
  

Key words: Nobelnaturalscienceprize, basicresearch, purebasicresearch, orientedbasicresearch,
applicationresearch,
NobelLaureatefornaturalscienceprize, statisticalanalysis, themethodofcaseanalysis

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