What's the use of basic science?

With public expenditure under pressure, the criteria for the allocation of funding to scientific research have come under increasing scrutiny. It is sometimes asserted that funds should be focused on applied (ÒusefulÓ) science and technology, rather than pure (ÒuselessÓ) science. I shall argue that this misunderstands the contribution of science to society and the role of public funding. To equate the useful with the applied is to display the same level of understanding as the child who thinks that the hands are the most important part of a watch because they are the ones that tell the time. Governments should support basic science because it is economically useful, as well as being part of our culture. This leads to the much more difficult questions of the level at which Government should fund basic science, and criteria for the allocation of funding between different fields.