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Chapter 14 - Scientific Elasticity

How Easy Is It to Change the Direction of a Scientist’s Focus?

from Section 3 - Bending the Arc

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2023

Mark P. Khurana
Affiliation:
University of Copenhagen
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Summary

Louis Pasteur is considered by many to be one of the most influential scientists in history, with his interests spanning from chemistry to biology to immunology. This type of wandering isn’t uncommon during a scientist’s career, which is often driven by curiosity and a willingness to explore new fields. But how feasible is it to incentivize or force scientists to change their research pursuits, a concept known as elasticity, thus changing the direction of biomedical discoveries? How much would it take to divert a modern Pasteur away from his own natural scientific interests? Chapter 14 explores the costs associated with incentivizing a scientist to pursue new research directions, the extent to which the pharmaceutical industry is elastic, and how we can more generally steer pursuits towards areas society deems important.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Trajectory of Discovery
What Determines the Rate and Direction of Medical Progress?
, pp. 80 - 83
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Scientific Elasticity
  • Mark P. Khurana, University of Copenhagen
  • Book: The Trajectory of Discovery
  • Online publication: 06 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009354424.015
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  • Scientific Elasticity
  • Mark P. Khurana, University of Copenhagen
  • Book: The Trajectory of Discovery
  • Online publication: 06 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009354424.015
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Scientific Elasticity
  • Mark P. Khurana, University of Copenhagen
  • Book: The Trajectory of Discovery
  • Online publication: 06 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009354424.015
Available formats
×