The merits of 'useless' science

摘要

Since 1964 the International Centre for Theoretical Physics has been a hothouse for scientific talent from developing countries The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, in Trieste (Italy) has a reputation for doing world-class science. And yet most of its research is, deliberately, 'useless'. At least at first view. As Erio Tosatti, former acting-director of ICTP and a professor at the nearby International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) explains, "All of the non-trivial advances are made by very clever inputs that may have been borrowed from theoretical physics and mathematics." A good example would be the search engines we use to surf the internet. "It's not just an increase in computing power," he explains, "there is some very clever maths involved."