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Basic Research Quotes

The unglamorous work behind big breakthroughs.

Basic research quotes here highlight government funding, long-term medical discovery, and inventions like the internet that started as unglamorous science. For a related angle on innovation, see brain quotes.

If you don't invest in basic research at some stage you start losing the basis of applied research.

Quotes by Rolf-Dieter Heuer

If our society continues to support basic research on how living organisms function, it is likely that my great grandchildren will be spared the agony of losing family members to most types of cancer.

Quotes by Paul D. Boyer

The United States should pursue a more robust agenda for U.S. competitiveness and innovation focused on a lower-carbon economy, including investments in education, basic research and development, infrastructure, retraining, retirement security, and universal health care.

Quotes by Mona Sutphen

A lot of the basic research that helped us figure out fracking came from the federal government.

Quotes by Lisa Murkowski

Arising Quotes

I am happy that I have so many friends all over the world who contributed to my research work, and I believe that also in the future, basic research offers the best opportunity of reaching across borders and overcoming ideological...

Quotes by Klaus von Klitzing

The medicines of today are based upon thousands of years of knowledge accumulated from folklore, serendipity and scientific discovery. The new medicines of tomorrow will be based on the discoveries that are being made now, arising from basic research in...

Quotes by John Vane

The work I was involved in had no obvious therapeutic benefit. It was purely of scientific interest. I hope the country will continue to support basic research even though it may have no obvious practical value.

Quotes by John Gurdon

From NASA putting a man on the moon to DARPA developing what later became the Internet, the U.S. government, through a host of different public agencies, has provided direct financing not only of basic research but also public venture capital;...

Quotes by Jens Martin Skibsted

A meticulous virtual copy of the human brain would enable basic research on brain cells and circuits or computer-based drug trials.

Quotes by Henry Markram

Best Quotes

My first job out of school was to do basic research at Johns Hopkins University's applied physics lab.

Quotes by Gordon Moore

No matter how counter-intuitive it may seem, basic research has proven over and over to be the lifeline of practical advances in medicine.

Quotes by Arthur Kornberg

Frequently Asked Questions

What role does government funding play in these basic research quotes?
Several quotes credit public agencies like NASA and DARPA with financing research that had no immediate commercial purpose but later led to major innovations, including the internet. Government support is framed as essential to long-term scientific progress.
Do these quotes connect basic research to medical breakthroughs?
Yes, one notes that today's medicines rest on generations of accumulated knowledge from folklore, chance discovery, and formal science, with future treatments building on current basic research.
Is basic research always tied to an obvious practical benefit?
No, one quote specifically notes that some research has no obvious therapeutic benefit or practical application at the time, yet remains valuable to scientific understanding.
What broader economic argument appears in these basic research quotes?
One quote ties investment in basic research and development to national competitiveness and a shift toward a lower-carbon economy, framing science funding as an economic priority.
Where can I find more quotes touching on the mind and cognition?
See brain quotes for more on how the mind processes and generates new ideas.

From NASA's moon landing to DARPA's early internet work, these quotes trace innovation back to publicly funded research. Explore best quotes or brain cells quotes for related reflections on discovery.