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Published online 12 November 2008 | Nature 456, 155-159 (2008) | doi:10.1038/456155a

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Science in the meltdown

The research enterprise faces many uncertainties in the looming global recession - but it also has many strengths that may help it weather the storm. Nature investigates.

M. Mitchell Waldrop

The crisis that swept across the world's financial markets this autumn is widely regarded as the worst since the 1930s. The global economic downturn that helped precipitate the crash, and will be duly amplified by it, is widely expected to be the worst in a generation, at least.

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  • Some good may come from changes in the way science has evolved since World War II ended - with an explosive and decisive display of success by the Manhattan Project and politicians realized that knowledge is power. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of the consequences in his 17 January 1961 Farewell Address to the Nation: "The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded". http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/ike.htm With kind regards, Oliver K. Manuel, http://www.omatumr.com, http://myprofile.cos.com/manuelo09

    • 12 Nov, 2008
    • Posted by: O M