“… né dolcezza di figlio, né la pieta del vecchio padre, né ‘l debito amore …”

"Is there still basic research in the Earth Sciences?" In recent decades,
leading researchers, policy makers and science operators have shown that
there is no sustainable development without adequate funding programs of
basic research. Whoever is approaching to world of scientific research in
should be aware of the fundamental elements of the debate on these topics,
as well as the steps that have most influenced the evolution of the concept
of scientific research in the last hundred years. This note is meant to
represent only a starting point for further readings and attempts at giving a
brief overview of the evolution, over a century, of the concepts of basic
and applied research, and their relation to society: from "academic" to
"post-academic" science and from the "linear model" to the idea of a much
more complex process that could describe the impact of science on
society.

Castelfranchi Y. & Pitrelli N. (2007) – Come si comunica la
scienza? Gius. Laterza & Figli, Roma-Bari, pp. 132, ISBN
978-88-420-8235-4
Martin B. R. & Tang P. (2007) – The benefits from publicly
funded research, SPRU Electronic Working Paper Series,
161
NRC (National Research Council) (2001) – Basic research
opportunities in Earth science. National Academies Press,
Washington, DC, ISBN 0-309-07133-X
Press W. H. (2013) – What’s so special about science (and how
much should we spend on it?), Science, 342, 817-822
Ziman J. (1998) – Why must scientists become more ethically
seisitive than they used to be? Science, 282, 1813-1814,
doi: 10.1126/science.282.5395.1813