Scapegoating science

It is one of the most remarkable aspects of science that we often don't know where the next practical breakthrough -- the one that might dramatically affect our everyday lives -- will come from, a fact that has taken on new significance during the current presidential campaign. Examples abound of unexpected connections in science that are as diverse as the discovery of antibiotics through Alexander Fleming's chance observation of mold in a petri dish, and the development of the World Wide Web as a result of esoteric experiments in particle physics at an accelerator in Geneva.

The story of Michael Faraday is particularly apt. His discoveries about the connections between electricity and magnetism laid the basis for generating most of the power that fuels modern society. When then-British Chancellor of the Exchequer William Gladstone visited Faraday's laboratory and asked what was the use of all the lab paraphernalia, the wires and the magnets, the scientist was reputed to have answered: "Why sir, there is every possibility that you will soon be able to tax it!"

Faraday's story comes to mind as the McCain campaign continues to make hay over supposedly wasteful federal earmarks in the funding of science.

In the first presidential debate, and on the campaign stump, John McCain has cited a $3-million earmark allocated to study the DNA of bears in Montana. "I don't know if it was a paternity issue or criminal," he quipped, "but it was a waste of money."

Wrong on both counts. The actual amount was more: $4.8 million, and the research was mandated by the Federal Endangered Species Act, on the recommendation of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks service as essential to preserving a threatened species, the grizzly bear.

The DNA study allowed researchers to pinpoint bear numbers and locations and to document how their population is changing, all essential data if the bears are to be protected from extinction. That may not be the highest item on a presidential agenda, but to claim that it is a waste of money is outrageous. Protecting grizzly bears may be expensive, but many would argue that preserving such a U.S. treasure is priceless.

During the second and third debates, McCain railed against another supposed example of government waste: A request from Barack Obama for "$3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago."