For the longest time, scientific research performed two significant functions beyond its stated mission of discovering things:
1: It kept a workforce advancing, both at the labs themselves, and at all the suppliers and manufacturers who fed into them. Those mega-budgets weren't buying mega-yachts for the lab directors; they flowed into mega-upgrades for industry, who could score "juicy government lab contracts" and advance their capabilities, which then paid dividends for the rest of the sector.
2: It supplied national prestige. The best and brightest from all over the world would fall over themselves to work in labs here. The moon landing shattered records for the most-watched TV broadcast ever, and a billion people knew America was on top of the world.
Both of these had significant trickle-down effects, which I don't think were fully appreciated until we let them rot on the vine.
I think "science" in the sense that GP uses it, should refer to any research that ticks both of the above boxes.
1: It kept a workforce advancing, both at the labs themselves, and at all the suppliers and manufacturers who fed into them. Those mega-budgets weren't buying mega-yachts for the lab directors; they flowed into mega-upgrades for industry, who could score "juicy government lab contracts" and advance their capabilities, which then paid dividends for the rest of the sector.
2: It supplied national prestige. The best and brightest from all over the world would fall over themselves to work in labs here. The moon landing shattered records for the most-watched TV broadcast ever, and a billion people knew America was on top of the world.
Both of these had significant trickle-down effects, which I don't think were fully appreciated until we let them rot on the vine.
I think "science" in the sense that GP uses it, should refer to any research that ticks both of the above boxes.