Man, being a part of nature and having some similarities with animals, especially with primates, however, has a completely unique property. His brain can perform actions that are called cognitive in psychology - cognitive. Man's ability for abstract thinking, associated with the development of the cerebral cortex, led him to a purposeful comprehension of the laws underlying the evolution of nature and society. As a result, such a phenomenon of cognition as fundamental science arose.
In this article, we will consider the ways of development of its various branches, and also find out how theoretical research differs from practical forms of cognitive processes.
General knowledge - what is it?
The part of cognitive activity that studies the basic principles of the structure and mechanisms of the universe, as well as affecting the cause-and-effect relationships that arise as a result of the interactions of objects in the material world, is fundamental science.
It is designed to study theoretical aspects both natural-mathematical and humanities disciplines. The special structure of the United Nations dealing with science, education and culture - UNESCO - refers to fundamental research precisely those that lead to the discovery of new laws of the universe, as well as to the establishment of links between natural phenomena and objects of physical matter.
Why you need to support theoretical research
One of hallmarks, inherent in highly developed states, is high level development of common knowledge and generous funding scientific schools involved in global projects. As a rule, they do not provide quick material benefits and are often time-consuming and costly. However, it is fundamental science that is the basis on which further practical experiments are based and the implementation of the results obtained in industrial production, agriculture, medicine and other branches of human activity.
Science fundamental and applied - the driving force of progress
So, global knowledge of the essence of being in all forms of its manifestation is a product of analytical and synthetic functions human brain. The empirical assumptions of ancient philosophers about the discreteness of matter led to the emergence of a hypothesis about the existence of the smallest particles - atoms, voiced, for example, in Lucretius Cara's poem "On the Nature of Things". The brilliant research of M. V. Lomonosov and D. Dalton led to the creation of an outstanding atomic and molecular theory.
The postulates provided by fundamental science served as the basis for subsequent applied research conducted by practitioners.
From theory to practice
The path from the office of a theoretical scientist to a research laboratory can take many years, or it can be fast-paced and full of new discoveries. For example, Russian scientists D. D. Ivanenko and E. M. Gapon in 1932 in laboratory conditions discovered the composition atomic nuclei, and soon Professor A.P. Zhdanov proved the existence inside the nucleus of extremely large forces that bind protons and neutrons into a single whole. They were called nuclear, and applied discipline - nuclear physics- they found application in cyclophasotrons (one of the first was created in 1960 in Dubna), in nuclear power plant reactors (in 1964 in Obninsk), in the military industry. All the examples we have given above clearly show how fundamental and applied science are interconnected.
The role of theoretical research in understanding the evolution of the material world
It is no coincidence that the beginning of the formation of universal knowledge is associated with the development, first of all, of the system of natural disciplines. Our society initially tried not only to learn the laws of material reality, but also to gain total power over them. It is enough to recall the well-known aphorism of I. V. Michurin: “We cannot wait for favors from nature, it is our task to take them from her.” To illustrate, let's look at how fundamental physical science has developed. Examples of human genius can be found in the discoveries that led to the formulation
Where is the knowledge of the law of gravity used?
It all started with the experiments of Galileo Galilei, who proved that the weight of a body does not affect the speed with which it falls to the ground. Then, in Isaac Newton, he formulated the postulate of universal significance - the law of universal gravitation.
The theoretical knowledge that physics has received - fundamental humanity successfully applies in modern methods geological exploration, in the preparation of forecasts of ocean tides. used in the calculation of movement artificial satellites Earth and intergalactic stations.
Biology - fundamental science
Perhaps in no other branch of human knowledge is there such an abundance of facts that serve as a striking example unique development cognitive processes in species A reasonable person. The postulates of natural science formulated by Charles Darwin, Gregor Mendel, Thomas Morgan, I. P. Pavlov, I. I. Mechnikov and other scientists radically influenced the development of modern evolutionary theory, medicine, breeding, genetics and Agriculture. Further, we will give examples confirming the fact that in the field of biology, fundamental and applied science are closely interconnected.
From modest experiments in the beds - to genetic engineering
In the middle of the 19th century, in a small town in the south of the Czech Republic, G. Mendel conducted experiments on crossing several varieties of peas with each other, which differed in color and shape of seeds. From the resulting hybrid plants, Mendel collected fruits and counted seeds with various traits. Due to his extreme scrupulousness and pedantry, the experimenter conducted several thousand experiments, the results of which he presented in the report.
Colleagues-scientists, having listened politely, left him without attention. But in vain. Almost a hundred years have passed, and several scientists at once - De Vries, Cermak and Correns - announced the discovery of the laws of heredity and the creation of a new biological discipline - genetics. But the laurels of superiority did not go to them.
The time factor in understanding theoretical knowledge
As it turned out later, they duplicated G. Mendel's experiments, taking only other objects for their research. By the middle of the 20th century, new discoveries in the field of genetics rained down as De Vries creates his mutation theory, T. Morgan - the chromosome theory of heredity, Watson and Crick decipher the structure of DNA.
However, the three main postulates formulated by G. Mendel still remain the cornerstone on which biology stands. Fundamental science has once again proved that its results are never wasted. They are simply waiting for the right time when humanity will be ready to understand and appreciate new knowledge on merit.
The role of disciplines of the humanitarian cycle in the development of global knowledge about the world order
History is one of the earliest branches of human knowledge, originating in ancient times. Herodotus is considered its founder, and the treatise "History", written by him, is the first theoretical work. Until now, this science continues to study the events of the past, and also reveals possible causal relationships between them on the scale of both human evolution and the development of individual states.
The outstanding studies of O. Comte, M. Weber, G. Spencer served as weighty evidence in favor of the assertion that history is a fundamental science, designed to establish the laws of development human society at various stages of its development.
Its applied branches - economic history, archeology, history of state and law - deepen our understanding of the principles of organization and evolution of society in the context of the development of civilizations.
Jurisprudence and its place in the system of theoretical sciences
How the state functions, what patterns can be identified in the process of its development, what are the principles of interaction between the state and law - these questions are answered by the fundamental one. It contains the most common categories and concepts for all applied branches of jurisprudence. They are then successfully used in their work by forensic science, forensic medicine, and legal psychology.
Jurisprudence ensures compliance with legal norms and laws, which is essential condition preservation and prosperity of the state.
The role of informatics in the processes of globalization
To imagine how much this science is in demand in modern world, we give the following figures: more than 60% of all jobs in the world are equipped with computer technology, and in knowledge-intensive industries, the figure rises to 95%. The erasing of information barriers between states and their populations, the creation of global world trade and economic monopolies, the formation of international communication networks is impossible without IT technologies.
Informatics as a fundamental science creates a set of principles and methods that ensure the computerization of control mechanisms for any objects and processes occurring in society. Its most promising application areas are network engineering, economic informatics, and computer production management.
Economics and its place in the world scientific potential
Economic fundamental science is the basis for modern interstate industrial production. It reveals cause-and-effect relationships between all subjects of the economic activity of society, and also develops the methodology of a single economic space on the scale of modern human civilization.
Born in the works of A. Smith and D. Ricardo, having absorbed the ideas of monetarism, modern economics makes extensive use of neoclassical and mainstream concepts. Applied industries were formed on their basis: regional and post-industrial economy. They study both the principles of the rational distribution of production and the consequences of the scientific and technological revolution.
In this article, we found out what role fundamental science plays in the development of society. The examples given above confirm its paramount importance in the knowledge of the laws and principles of the functioning of the material world.
Fundamental science is science for the sake of science. It is part of a research and development activity without specific commercial or other practical purposes.
Natural science is an example of fundamental science. It is aimed at understanding nature, such as it is in itself, regardless of what application its discoveries will receive: space exploration or pollution. environment. And natural science does not pursue any other goal. This is science for science's sake; knowledge of the surrounding world, the discovery of the fundamental laws of being and the increment of fundamental knowledge. See →
Applied science is a science aimed at obtaining a specific scientific result that can actually or potentially be used to meet private or public needs. See →
Relationship between fundamental and applied sciences
Everything is different
In fundamental and applied science various methods and subject of research different approaches and perspective on social reality. Each of them has its own quality criteria, its own techniques and methodology, its own understanding of the functions of a scientist, its own history and even its own ideology. In other words, their own world and their own subculture.How much does fundamental science give to practice?
Fundamental and applied sciences are two completely different types activities. In the beginning, and this happened in ancient times, the distance between them was insignificant and almost everything that was discovered in the field of fundamental science immediately or in a short time was put into practice.
Archimedes discovered the law of the lever, which was immediately used in military and engineering. And the ancient Egyptians discovered geometric axioms, literally without leaving the ground, since geometric science arose from the needs of agriculture.
Gradually the distance increased and today it reached its maximum. In practice, embodies less than 1% of the discoveries made in pure science.
In the 1980s, Americans conducted an evaluation study (the purpose of such studies is to assess the practical significance scientific developments, their effectiveness). For more than 8 years, a dozen research groups have analyzed 700 technological innovations in the weapons system. The results stunned the public: 91% of inventions have prior applied technology as their source, and only 9% have achievements in the field of science. Moreover, only 0.3% of them have a source in the field of pure (fundamental) research. (For more details, see: http://science.ng.ru/printed/polemics/2000-04-19/3_status.html).
Converge or diverge?
IN different time Fundamental and applied science either converge or diverge.
As for applied sociology, for example, according to G. Mauksch (Mauksch H.O. Teaching applied sociology: opportunities and obstacles // Applied sociology: roles and activities of sociologists in diverse settings / Ed. by H.E. Freeman, Dynes R.R., Rossi P.H. and Whyte W.F. - San Francisco etc.: Jossey-Bass Publischers, 1983.p.312-313.), at the beginning of the twentieth century, the teaching of applied sociology was better than at the end. Then academic sociology, due to the underdevelopment or lack of sophistication of its methodological and methodological apparatus, was not strictly delimited from applied sociology. Both were called social studies. But gradually the gap between the two branches of sociology widened. Alienation grew as the academic sphere enjoyed more and less prestige, and the applied one. However, in the 70s there was a turn, many academic sociologists actively engaged in applied projects and began to teach applied sociology to their students. If earlier applied sociology was viewed as a temporary career, now it is seen as a permanent and promising occupation.
Fundamental applied research in science is becoming increasingly important every year. In this regard, the issue of determining the place of applied research and fundamental sciences is relevant.
Depending on the specifics of science, there is a different connection between its theoretical and practical results with social life, real production. The division of ongoing research into applied and fundamental was caused by an increase in the scale of scientific work, as well as an increase in the application of its results in practice.
The Importance of Scientific Research
Science, as a specific form of social institution and consciousness, appears and is formed as a kind of knowledge of the laws of the natural world, contributes to the purposeful mastery of them, the subordination of natural elements for the benefit of mankind. Definitely before opening. various laws people used the forces of nature.
But the scale of such interaction was very limited, basically they came down to observations, generalizations, the transfer of recipes and traditions from generation to generation. After the emergence of the sciences of nature (geography, biology, chemistry, physics), practical activity acquired a rational path of development. For practical implementation, they began to apply not empiricism, but objective laws of living nature.
Separation of theory from practice
Immediately after the advent of fundamental science, action and cognition, practice and theory began to complement each other, together to solve certain problems that make it possible to significantly increase the level of social development.
In the process of the progress of science, the inevitable specialization and division of labor in the field of research activity appears. Even in the theoretical sphere there is a separation of experiments from the fundamental base.
Industrial significance
The experimental base in chemistry, physics, biology is currently associated with industrial production. For example, modern installations for the implementation of thermonuclear transformations are presented in full accordance with the factory reactors. The main goal of the applied industry is currently considered to be the testing of certain hypotheses and theories, the search for rational ways to implement the results in a particular production.
space research
After the separation of applied and theoretical activities in natural science, new types of applied disciplines appeared: technical physics, applied chemistry. Among the interesting areas of technical knowledge, radio engineering, nuclear power engineering, and the space industry are of particular importance.
Many results of fundamental technical disciplines, for example, strength of materials, applied mechanics, radio electronics, electrical engineering, are not directly applied in practice, but various industrial production, without which it is impossible to create any modern electronic gadget.
Currently no one is considering technical disciplines as separate areas, they are being introduced into almost all branches of natural science and production.
New trends
To solve complex and complex technical problems, new tasks and goals are set for applied areas, separate laboratories are created in which not only fundamental, but also applied research is carried out.
For example, cybernetics, as well as related disciplines, contribute to the modeling of processes occurring in nature, living organisms, help to study the features of ongoing processes, and look for ways to solve identified problems.
This is a confirmation of the relationship between applied and fundamental scientific research.
Conclusion
Based on the results of ongoing research, not only sociologists speak of the need to search for a close relationship between applied experiments and scientific fundamental laws. Scientists themselves understand the urgency of the problem, they are looking for ways out of this situation. The academician repeatedly recognized the artificiality of the division of science into applied and basic parts. He always emphasized the difficulty of finding that fine line that would become the boundary between practice and theory.
A. Yu. Ishlinsky said that it is precisely "abstract sciences" that are able to make the maximum contribution to the formation of society, its development and formation.
But at the same time, there is Feedback, involving the application of practical research results to explain scientific facts and the laws of nature.
All experiments of an applied nature, which are not fundamental in nature, are aimed precisely at obtaining a specific result, that is, they involve the implementation of the results obtained in real production. That is why the search for the relationship between scientific and practical areas is highly relevant when working in research centers and specialized laboratories.
Fundamental science is science for the sake of science. It is part of a research and development activity without specific commercial or other practical purposes.
Fundamental science is a science that has as its goal the creation of theoretical concepts and models, the practical applicability of which is not obvious (Titov V.N. Institutional and ideological aspects of the functioning of science // Sotsiol. Issled.1999. No. 8.p.66).
According to the official definition adopted by the Central Statistical Bureau of the Russian Federation:
- Basic research includes experimental and theoretical research aimed at obtaining new knowledge without any specific purpose related to the use of this knowledge. Their result is hypotheses, theories, methods, etc. ...Basic research can be completed with recommendations for setting up applied research to identify opportunities for the practical use of the results obtained, scientific publications etc.
The US National Science Foundation defines fundamental research as follows:
- Basic Research- this is a part of research activities aimed at replenishing the general volume of theoretical knowledge ... They do not have predetermined commercial goals, although they can be carried out in areas that are of interest or may be of interest to business practitioners in the future.
The task of the fundamental sciences is the knowledge of the laws governing the behavior and interaction of the basic structures of nature, society and thinking. These laws and structures are studied in their "pure form", as such, regardless of their possible use.
Natural science is an example of fundamental science. It is aimed at the knowledge of nature, such as it is in itself, regardless of what application its discoveries will receive: space exploration or environmental pollution. And natural science does not pursue any other goal. This is science for science's sake; knowledge of the surrounding world, the discovery of the fundamental laws of being and the increment of fundamental knowledge.
Fundamental and academic science
Fundamental science is often called academic because it develops mainly in universities and academies of sciences. Academic science, as a rule, is fundamental science, science is not for the sake of practical applications but for the sake of pure science. In life, this is often true, but "often" does not mean "always". Basic and academic research are two different things. Cm.
conditioned by them; - affects the basic principles of most humanitarian and natural science disciplines, - serves to expand theoretical, conceptual ideas, in particular - the determination of the ideological and formative essence of the subject of their study, - the universe as such in all its manifestations, including those covering the spheres of intellectual, spiritual and social.
Encyclopedic YouTube
-
1 / 5
The tasks of fundamental science do not include an urgent and indispensable practical implementation (nevertheless, prospectively - epistomologically expedient), which is its fundamental difference from utilitarian theoretical or applied science, which are the same in relation to it. However, the results of fundamental research also find actual application, constantly correcting the development of any discipline, which is generally unthinkable without the development of its fundamental sections - any discoveries and technologies will certainly rely on the provisions of fundamental science by definition, and in case of contradiction with conventional ideas, not only stimulate modifications of those , but they also need fundamental research for a full understanding of the processes and mechanisms underlying this or that phenomenon - further improvement of the method or principle. Traditionally, fundamental research was correlated with natural science, at the same time, all forms scientific knowledge rely on systems of generalizations that are their basis; thus and all humanitarian sciences possess or seek to possess an apparatus capable of capturing and formulating the general fundamental principles of research and methods of their interpretation.
The state, which has sufficient scientific potential and strives for its development, certainly contributes to the support and development of fundamental research, despite the fact that they are often not profitable.
So the second article federal law Russia dated August 23, 1996 No. 127-FZ “On Science and State Scientific and Technical Policy” defines fundamental research as follows:
Experimental or theoretical activity aimed at obtaining new knowledge about the basic patterns of the structure, functioning and development of a person, society, and the natural environment.
History and evolution
The most striking example of characteristics Fundamental science, of course, can be the history of research related to the structure of matter, in particular, the structure of the atom, the practical implementation of which, without exaggeration, was found only hundreds of years after the birth initial submissions atomism, and dozens later - after the formation of the theory of the structure of the atom.
In each field of knowledge, a similar process is observed, when from the primary empirical substrate, through a hypothesis, experiment and its theoretical understanding, with their appropriate development and expansion, improvement of methodology, science comes to certain postulates, contributing, for example, to the search and formation of quantitatively expressed provisions, being theoretical basis and for further theoretical research, and for the formation of problems of applied science.
Improvement of the instrumental base, both theoretical and experimental, - practical, serves (in the correct implementation conditions) to improve the method. That is, any fundamental discipline and any applied direction are capable, to a certain extent, of mutually participating in the development of understanding and solving their independent, but also common tasks: applied science expands the possibilities of research tools, both practical and theoretical, of fundamental science, which, in in turn, the results of their research, provides a theoretical tool and a basis for the development of applied on the relevant topics. This is one of the main reasons for the need to support fundamental science, which, as a rule, does not have the ability to self-finance.
Errors of interpretation
About the dangers of misunderstanding, and even more so - public coverage of issues related to rather complex scientific problems, M. V. Lomonosov warned in his “Discourse on the duties of journalists in the presentation of essays, intended to maintain the freedom of philosophy” (1754); These fears do not lose their relevance to this day. They are also fair in relation to the interpretation of the role and significance of the fundamental sciences that is happening now, - assigning research of a different “genre” affiliation to their competence.
A typical situation is when there is a misunderstanding of the terms themselves. fundamental science And fundamental research, - their incorrect use, and when for fundamentality in the context of such use it is worth thoroughness any scientific project. Most of these studies are related to large-scale research within the applied sciences, to large-scale works subordinated to the interests of various branches of industry, etc. Here for fundamentality worth only the attribute significance, and in no way can they be attributed to fundamental- in the sense mentioned above. It is this misunderstanding that gives rise to a deformation of ideas about the true meaning of truly fundamental science (in terms of modern science of science), which begins to be regarded exclusively as “pure science” in the most misleading interpretation, that is, as science divorced from real practical needs, as serving, for example, corporate egghead problems.
A fairly rapid development of technology and systemic methods (in relation to the implementation of what was obtained and long ago "predicted" by fundamental science) creates conditions for a different kind of incorrect classification of scientific research, when their new direction, belonging to the field - interdisciplinary, is regarded as a success in mastering the technological base, or vice versa, is presented only in the form of a line of development - fundamental. While the last of these Scientific research, indeed, owe their origin, but they are more related to applied ones, and only indirectly serve the development of fundamental science.
Nanotechnologies can serve as an example of this, the basis of which, relatively recently, in terms of the development of science, was laid, among many other areas of fundamental research, by colloidal chemistry, the study of dispersed systems and surface phenomena. However, this does not mean that the fundamental research underlying this or that new technology should be completely subordinated to it, absorbing the provision of other areas; when there is a danger of re-profiling into branch research institutions designed to engage in fundamental research of a fairly wide range.
see also
- Committee scientific terminology in field fundamental science
Notes
Literature
- Philosophical encyclopedic dictionary. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1989
- Scientific discovery and its perception. Problems and research. M.: Science. 1971
- Rachkov P. A. Science of Science. Problems, structure, elements. - M.: Moscow University Publishing House. 1974
- Essays on the history and theory of the development of science. Science of Science: Problems and Research. - M.: Thought. 1969
- Smirnov S. G. Problem book on the history of science. From Thales to Newton. - M.: MIROS - MAIK "Science / Interperiodika". 2001
