Meaning of Big Science | Babel Free

Definitions

Scientific research that is high-profile, large in scope, and so expensive that it requires government funding.

uncountable

Examples

“A basic model⟳ of the phenomenon of Big Science as a style of organization is captured by the five 'M's: money, manpower, machines, media and military.”

“The growth of Big Science has been accompanied by changes in the sources of scientific patronage.”

“In the 1960s, Big Science was identified as a new phenomenon, associated with changes in the organization of scientific research⟳ in the aftermath of World War II.1 As the Big Science mode of research⟳ blossomed and expanded in the second half of the twentieth century, it became a widespread mode of scientific research⟳ in the natural sciences.”

“Already in 1961 Weinberg asks the scientific community to consider⟳ not only the reasons behind the expansion of science into Big Science, but also the price it was willing to pay⟳ for it. He asked three broad questions: "first, Is Big Science ruining science?; second, Is Big Science ruining us financially?; and third, Should we divert a larger part of our effort toward scientific issues which bear⟳ more directly on human well-being than do such Big-Science spectaculars as manned space travel⟳ and high-energy physics?"”

“Big money is not a sufficient, but it is a necessary condition for "big science;" therefore, it is not surprising that the big science era in physics coincided with the increase⟳ in government funding.”

“The HGP is the first genuine example of big science in the biological sciences, with an estimated original price tag of $3 billion.”

“Big science has replaced traditional science, which was little, and had little public concern⟳. Today big science has new, exciting tasks. This should not be at the cost⟳ of a loss of little science. There is a need⟳ to revive and protect⟳ it, in order⟳ to insure the continued well-being of science as a whole. For this a new system is required, since the old one transformed into big science and is thus no longer adequate.”

“Much big science is concentrated in a single huge machine. But distributed big science in this case consists of missions (also called projects) that make⟳ up an extended, multidecadal program⟳ of exploration”

CEFR level