The Difference Between Pure & Applied-Research Sciences

Both pure and applied research further science, society, and business.

Scientific research comes in two broad division, pure and applied. Because their tools are similar or identical, it may be difficult to distinguish between the two. Both pure and applied scientific research are necessary to benefit society.

Pure Science Addresses Basic Questions

Pure science, also known as "basic science," tries to answer basic questions about reality, such as the nature of aspects of the physical universe, the mechanisms of life, or the workings of the mind. Pure science does not focus on solving problems or creating products. Trying to understand the structure of a molecule, how a cell works, or how groups of people become more cohesive or divisive are all questions of basic science.

Applied Science Solves Specific Problems

Applied science tries to solve a specific problem or set of problems, or to create a product. Developing a better solar panel to generate less expensive electrical power involves applied physics and chemistry. Creating a treatment to prevent or cure a disease is applied biology. Creating a better way to diagnose mental illness is applied psychology or psychiatry.

Pure Science Supports Applied Science

Pure science generates better tools for applied science to use in solving problems. For example, chemists discovered that carbon atoms could be arranged in hollow spheres, tubes and football shapes, now called "fullerenes;" the spheres are also called "buckeyballs." Buckeyballs are used by applied chemists to create carbon structures that are important to materials science, nanotechnology, and electronics, and are involved in the creation of superconductors.

Applied Science Suggests Questions for Pure Science

When applied science encounters a problem current tools of science can't solve, this suggests a new area for pure scientists to investigate. For example, when it was discovered that light beams from light sources, like lamps, became so diffuse that it was difficult to send light across great distances, it suggested questions to pure scientists about the nature of light, and why it spreads out. The search to answer these questions resulted in an important paper in pure physics by Albert Einstein.

References

• "The World According to Rick," B. Halford, "Chemical & Engineering News," Oct. 9 2006
• "Beam: The Race to Make the Laser," Jeff Hecht, Oxford University Press, 2005.