Century Quote by Derek J. de Solla Price
“It is clear that we cannot go up another two orders of magnitude as we have climbed the last five. If we did, we should have two scientists for every man, woman, child, and dog in the population, and we should spend on them twice as much money as we had. Scientific doomsday is therefore less than a century distant.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Little Science, Big Science, 1986
Exponential growth in scientific workforce cannot continue indefinitely; resource limits will cause a collapse within a century.
In simple terms: Science cannot keep expanding forever.
Key Takeaway
Plan for sustainable research scales.
Themes
science
growth
resource limits
future
policy
Mood
concerned
analytical
Type
cautionary
predictive
When to use this quote
- research funding
- education planning
- policy making
- technology development
Key Concepts
exponential growth
resource scarcity
population dynamics
Questions to Reflect On
- What alternative models could sustain scientific progress?
- How can societies balance investment with realistic limits?
A Different Perspective
Assumes current trends stay constant; breakthroughs could alter trajectory.
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