Some scientists who have contributed monumentally to scientific knowledge by their pure or basic research include:
a. Robert Boyle (1627 - 1691). He is regarded as the Father of Chemistry. He is famous for his discoveries on the physics of gases.
b. Marcello Malppghian (1628 - 1694). He has been referred to as the ‘Father of Microscopy’. This is because of his numerous anatomical and botanical investigations with the newly invented microscope. The malppghian layer in leaves of plants is named after him.
c. Christian Huygens (1629 - 1695). He was a reputed mathematician and an astronomer. He built the first accurate pendulum clock.
d. Robert Hooke (1635 - 1703). He made his living as a surveyor and an architect. He was a research assistant to Boyle. He carried out various researches in biology and physics. He is most remembered for his microscopic discovery of the cells of plants.
e. Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727). He was a brilliant mathematician and physicist. He is remembered mainly for his laws of motion, and the discovery of the composite nature of white light using a sunbeam and a prism.
f. Michael Faraday (1741 - 1867). He was a brilliant physicist. He is remembered for his discovery of electricity in 1813 during a series of deliberate researches with very simple apparatus. On the other hand, the production of steam power, a technical development is the most important in the whole history of modern industrial civilisation. This technical production proceeded without any help from pure or basic science. The original incentive for this invention was cormcmlyercial and industrial. That is how to solve the problem of pumping water from a mine.
The only significant contribution form theory was the invention of separatedcondenser in 1764 by James Watt (1736 -1819). Apart from this the steam engine was invented and improved by a succession of practical inventors without any training in mathematics or physics.
Invention is an outstanding feat emanating from science and technology. The claim is often made that modern industry depends on basic science for its supply of innovations. It is also said that the support of pure science is justifiable because it would lead, eventually to economic benefits through improved industrial products or processes. For instance, the zip used to fasten a piece of clothing, especially women’s dresses was invented by W. L. Judson. He was an American mechanical engineer. He applied for the first patent of his invention in 1891. (The patent is an open letter from the government of a country, conferring the sole right for a period of time to make, use or sell some invention.) Judson’s invention was a unique one. He formed a company to try to make and market a saleable product. But the company failed after a period of twenty years. It took another company called the Automatic Hook and Eye Company and a Swedish electric engineer called G. Sundback (1913) to improve and finally come up with the essential design we know today. But public acceptance of this new product only came in 1918. Another notable invention was that of antibiotics. The invention was a technical innovation that sprang directly from pure or basic scientific research. In 1928, Alexander Fleming accidentally observed the effects of microorganisms (fungi) named Penicillium on a bacterial culture. He was deeply interested in natural products that could kill bacteria.
He immediately started research on the penicillium phenomena. Over a period of three to four years, he extracted the active agent in the fungi, tested its action on animals and humans. He found out that it was not toxic to animals and humans. He published his results in a journal. But because Fleming was a man who didn’t like publicity, his discovery was almost completely ignored. Again, he didn’t have the money to isolate and purify the active agent for commercial purposes. Additionally, he didn’t seek publicity because commercial pharmacists of that time generally considered the concept of a non-toxic bactericide, a contradiction. Ten years later in 1939, a group under Howard Florey and Ernest Chain began work on natural antibiotics. They came across Fleming’s paper in the literature and soon confirmed Fleming’s work that penicillin was highly effective.
