Pure Science with a Practical Aim: The Meanings of Fundamental Research in Britain, circa 1916–1950

The aim of this paper is to show that when the expression “fundamental research” was used in Britain during and after World War I, it had a particular status that was not equivalent to pure science.

Abstract

Historians tell us that the term "fundamental research" entered the discourse of science in the interwar period as a synonym for "pure science" and that both terms referred to work concerned with the search for knowledge, without thought of application. The aim of this paper is to show that when the expression "fundamental research" was used in Britain during and after World War I, it had a particular status that was not equivalent to pure science. In the annual reports of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) "fundamental research" was endowed with multiple meanings, including work that was orientated towards some practical goal. The fluidity of the meaning of "fundamental research" in the reports of the DSIR can be understood as a strategy; "fundamental research" was a rhetorical term that served to persuade more than one audience of the legitimacy of the DSIR and its policies.