Of College Town And Gown

As a Princeton University Ph.D. recipient who carried out his studies in the Frick Laboratory 65 years ago, I have views on the controversy discussed in “Princeton versus Princeton” (C&EN, Oct. 28, page 22).

One concern is for the changes in the kinds of work carried out in American universities. Research is increasingly dependent upon support from contracts and grants, from industry or government agency sources focused on applications. The result has been greater emphasis on applied research and increasing difficulty in providing support for curiosity-driven projects.

An important part of many grant applications today is to indicate possible applications of the proposed work. When Michael Faraday was asked by a politician what electricity was good for, his excellent reply was, “Someday you will tax it.” I doubt that Einstein had the atom bomb in mind in his development of the theory of special relativity. Much economic gain has resulted from studies for which scientists were not motivated by possible applications. There needs to be a means to support such studies, and granting tax-exempt status to universities provides them a source of funds that would be difficult to obtain from applications-oriented sources.

With current economics, I can understand why taxpaying property owners in Princeton, N.J., might be unhappy. One should ask about the benefit brought to such towns by the presence of universities. My guess is that without them, the towns would not profit from the peripheral activities of universities.

Richard S. (Dick) Stein
Amherst, Mass.