Nobel Winner Laments Changes

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

> From an AP item (abstracted) to note the comments of our latest Nobelist.


Sad but true


Dave




      WASHINGTON (AP) -- ``The world ain't the same,'' says Nobel Prize
winner Dr. Martin Rodbell, since he became a scientist. And neither
is science.
 ...
        But the scientist said he retired in June from the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, one of the NIH
agencies, because there was no more money for his work.
        ``The budgets at NIH, particularly where I was working, were
finally cut down to the point that I didn't have money to
continue,'' he said. ``That is not NIH's fault. That's the way
things have been going for a long time.''
        Spending on science, said Rodbell, is controlled by
goal-oriented research instead of the basic search for knowledge
that drove his work.
        ``I think the attitudes of Congress and the executive branch has
always been ... toward the end goal. Build a better mouse trap.
Have someone go to the moon,'' he said. ``Underlying all of that is
that they are not willing to take a chance on people like myself,
exploring the unknown, really looking at things that we never
considered.''