Scientific Freedom: The Elixir of Civilization

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A radical and timely proposal for reinvigorating transformative scientific discovery.

So rich was the scientific harvest of the early 20th century that it transformed entire industries and economies. Max Planck laid the foundation for quantum physics, Barbara McClintock for modern genetics, Linus Pauling for chemistry-the list goes on.

In the 1970s, the nature of scientific work started to change. Increases in public funding for scientific research brought demands that spending be justified, a system of peer review that selected only the research proposals promising the greatest returns, and a push for endless short-term miracles instead of in-depth, boundary-pushing research. A vicious spiral of decline began.

In Scientific Freedom, Donald W. Braben presents a framework to find and support cutting-edge, much-needed scientific innovation. Braben—who led British Petroleum's Venture Research initiative, which aimed to identify and aid researchers challenging current scientific thinking—explains:

The conditions that catalyzed scientific research in the early 20th century
The costs to society of our current research model
The changing role of the university as a research institution
How BP’s Venture Research initiative succeeded by minimizing bureaucracy and peer review, and the program’s impact
The selection, budget, and organizational criteria for implementing a Venture Research program today.

Even in the earliest stages, transformative and groundbreaking research can look unrecognizable to those who are accustomed to the patterns established by the past. Support for this research can, in fact, be low risk and offer rich rewards, but it requires rethinking the processes used to discover and sponsor scientists with groundbreaking ideas—and then giving those innovators the freedom to explore.

First published in 2008, this new edition of Scientific Freedom includes over 30 redesigned charts and figures and a new foreword by Donald Braben.

Review

"A superb book, both inspiring and provocative. Braben strives to ensure the most creative scientists, if completely free to pursue unorthodox research, will aim to attain the 'elixir of civilization.'"
—Dudley Herschbach, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 1986

"Scientific Freedom deals with an issue of great relevance to the world we live in: How should we ensure that scientific research is enabled to make the breakthroughs that have characterized the last 100 years of science? Most certainly it is not by following the current rules of applying for grants and being demanded to tell the grantors what you will discover. If we knew that already, it would not be a discovery. All scientists, granting agencies, and policy-makers should read this refreshing book and respond to the need to change current funding paradigms."
—Sir Richard J. Roberts, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1993

"What is the recipe for scientific progress? Don Braben makes persuasive arguments that true innovation relies on freedom to innovate through the support of outstanding individuals. . . . He critiques existing science funding mechanisms as stultifying and proposes an exciting and compelling agenda to fund science."
—Sir Steve Sparks, Vetlesen Prize 2015

"If any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, how do we get there from here? By understanding the fundamental rules that govern the universe and everything in it. We must ask the biggest open-ended questions in science, and recognize that we are still far from knowing the answers. In this seminal book, Don Braben shows that only scientific freedom can open up the way. It is needed now more than ever. This book should be read by everyone who cares about our own future."—Nick Lane, Michael Faraday Prize 2016

"Scientific Freedom is an important book: beautifully written, brimming with scholarship, and lightly spiced with Liverpudlian wit. . . . [It] is a book of revelations and revolutions. Scientific freedom is needed now as never before."—Nigel R. Franks, University of Bristol

"Don Braben's suggested solution is a proven way to nurture a scientific elite without any of the baggage which modern-day usage of the word 'elite' brings."—John Dainton, University of Liverpool

"Don Braben is an iconoclast. May this book inspire those who read it to lend their support to his vision."—Sir John Pendry, Kavli Prize in Nanoscience 2014

"I hope that this exciting book makes a significant impact on [the] future progress of academic research."—William C. Troy, University of Pittsburgh

"Don Braben has been a tireless advocate for a system that redirects the administration of funded scientific research in the UK (and elsewhere). He offers cogent arguments why the current system, with its emphasis on some relevance to the state's economy, risks missing valuable assets arising from transformative 'breakthroughs' in many research fields."
—Robin Tucker, University of Lancaster

About the Author

Donald W. Braben is a scientist and author. From 1980 to 1990, he led British Petroleum’s Venture Research program, for which he developed a radical, low-cost approach to finding and funding researchers whose work might redefine their fields. Of the dozens of projects supported by the program, many led to transformative discoveries. He has held positions at the Cabinet Office in Whitehall, the Science Research Council in London, and the Bank of England. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and the First Trust Bank Chair of Innovation at Queen’s University Belfast. He currently holds an honorary position at University College London. He lives in the United Kingdom.

Review:

4.3 out of 5

86.67% of customers are satisfied

Its weight in gold

J.R. · 23 October 2021

This book is a gem. Well researched, speaks truth, and provides a healthy contrarian point of view.

Brilliant argument, beautiful book.

Z. · 28 December 2020

The book itself is beautiful and reminiscent of old, collectible scientific volumes. High quality. It is high signal and low noise. You can read it in a weekend and learn something new.The author, Donald Braben, ran "Venture Research" at BP for a decade. Venture Research is deliberately investing in avenues of investigation that sound slightly fringe but, if true, will fundamentally change our understanding of the universe.The fruits of Braben's work are impressive and cost BP only about $40 million over a decade.But BP's Venture Research harvest is only a small piece of Braben's argument. He fears for the future of scientific progress in general, which he argues has stalled. Interestingly, he dates the decline of fundamental scientific discovery to the early 1970's, which coincides with other observers (Tyler Cowen's Great Stagnation, wtfhappenedin1971.com/)It seems hard to believe that the digital age does not represent new scientific discovery. But Braben's point is that much of digital technology elaborates on discoveries from before 1971 (semiconductors, ARPA Net). We have better engineering now, but not more fundamental understanding.Braben argues that the bureaucratization of research and peer review are to blame. No longer do researchers enjoy the free-wheeling days of "here's some money, go give it a try" that allowed luminaries like Vannevar Bush and JCR Licklider to finance the pioneers of computing.Today, research must align with top-down "national goals", must adhere to a prescribed timeline, and justify itself with a practical use case. In effect, funding agencies and government hope to "plan" the anarchic process of fundamental discovery.Braben is no fan of peer review and believes it's a grave mistake to treat it as the gold standard for evaluating research proposals. Fundamental discoveries are almost always seen as crazy, fringe ideas at first.So If we rely on "peers" to evaluate these avenues of research, we risk a stifling orthodoxy on the ideas that receive funds. Plus, all the compliance measures waste the time of researchers who should be focused on science."One does not even know which haystack hides the needle. It's been forgotten that we did not need special arrangements for finding the Einsteins in the past. There was enough flexibility in the system to allow them to emerge, but that's been removed in the quest for efficiency", says Braben.To be clear, the results of Venture Research are peer reviewed for accuracy, but the proposals are not. Venture Research also proposes no timeline or milestones. Money is not particularly conditional on any outcome.Venture Research cultivates an informal, horizontal, high-trust and low-supervision environment of loose collaboration. The goal of Venture Research is to mint a new generation of pioneer-scientists, which Braben calls the "Planck Club."For Braben, the stakes are high: "My conjecture is that at the highest social levels creativity provides the vital feedback that keeps societies and civilizations healthy." A lack of creativity prevents civilization from adapting to new challenges.This makes civilization more and more fragile — pushing it into the darkly-named "Damocles Zone", where a single major stressor could cause a decline and fall.A wonderful and inspiring book that speaks to the adventure of scientific discovery and the creative powers of a free civilization.

Funding Lone Wolves to Green Wash BP Image

K.K. · 1 December 2020

The reprinting is nice. It is a well bound hardcover book. The author is a climate change denier (but this point doesn’t play a major role in the book), and it seems the point (or at least how it was sold to executives at the time) of the venture research program in 1980s was green washing BP’s corporate image, to make them seem not so evil.I am not sure I buy the argument that these mythical lone genius scientists are going to save us. This attitude is very much part of our problem. We don’t need to make large systemic changes to how corporations do business because some great undreamed-of-yet invention will bail us out. Sure, peer review is awful. Yes, corporate culture and the fear of lawsuits has taken risk tolerance out of everything. I don’t think this book has the answer, though.

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Scientific Freedom: The Elixir of Civilization

Name: Scientific Freedom: The Elixir of Civilization
Brand: Stripe Press
SKU: K0578675919
Price: 12.71 BHD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.6 (3 reviews)

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