Compromising the Ideals of Science

Taking a historical approach, this book examines the conditions under which scientists compromised the ideals of science, and offers some ways in which the expectations of the scientific enterprise can be transformed. Are these ideals too removed from the realities of democratic capitalism? Were they ever attained? Only against some idealized vision of science can we critically assess how well or poorly the scientific community has performed in the past three centuries. Moreover, are individual failings—of fraud and corruption—necessarily indicative of an institutionalized failure? These questions are answered when national security concerns overwhelm the autonomy of science and when fiscal motives dictate what scientists should research. The book also presents some suggestions for changing the political and economic conditions under which the integrity of science and its ethos can be practiced.