ASP Event with Norm Augustine: “Science is the Ultimate Revolution”

Norm Augustine, a member of ASP’s board and one of the country’s leading businessmen, joined us at ASP this morning to talk about how America’s future is tied to Research and Development (R&D) and our expertise in science and technology. This event market the launch of a letter to Congressional leadership on the importance of funding for basic R&D as well as a fact-sheet “Research and Development as a National Priority.” I had the opportunity to speak for a bit, but Norm Augustine was the clear star of the show – so I will devote this post to some of what he said.

Science and engineering are changing the world. This is exemplified by the advancement in telecommunications technology seen over the last century which has allowed for the free and rapid exchange of information from any origin to any destination.

Because of this technology, the world has gotten a lot smaller. Augustine quoted Frances Cairncross of the Economist as saying “distance is dead.” For example: there are now people in Nevada remotely piloting unmanned aircraft in Afghanistan and there are doctors in New York operating on patients in France.

These advancements are due to previous foresighted investments in basic research. But – the implications of these great advances are that Americans no longer compete for jobs with our neighbors next-door; instead, we now compete with people from around the world.

Excellence in R&D must be part of America’s competitive advantage. Although it may be cheaper and easier for companies to do it abroad, the U.S. must continue to make that argument that we can do it better here. This is most important because, though only 4% of the U.S. workforce is in science and engineering, they help to create the jobs for the remaining 96%.

ASP has been doing a lot of work on next-generation energy sources – and R&D into energy must be a major part of our goals. We know that our current energy system is insecure, economically unstable, and environmentally unsustainable. Fixing these problems will not come from legislation: it will come from new technologies developed out of basic research.

As Margaret Thatcher, one of Britain’s greatest chemists (or was she known for other things?), said: “The greatest economic benefits of scientific research have always resulted from advances in fundamental knowledge rather than the search for specific applications … transistors were not discovered by the entertainment industry … but by people working on wave mechanics and solid state physics.  [Nuclear energy] was not discovered by oil companies with large budgets seeking alternative forms of energy, but by scientists like Einstein and Rutherford …”

I will finish up this brief post with a quote from one of America’s great competitors in both R&D and Competitiveness: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo has said “Science is the ultimate revolution.” From the leader of a party that came to power through revolution, that is a clear and bold statement.  America must take that as a clear challenge.

Share on Facebook

Tweet