Is the U.S. behind in the sciences?

[Tinker Gnome]

It seems to me that the U.S. is lagging behind in the sciences, not I am no expert, so I can not tell for sure. But it seems like all the advancements in science are happening in Asia and also some wester European countries too. Now, I know we do have people from all over here, so maybe they could say something too.

 

[drothgery]

That's not just wrong, but wildly wrong. If you look at objective measures (patents awarded, money spent on research, number of PhDs produced, etc.), the US dominates most fields. This isn't saying that interesting work isn't happening in other countries, but a lot more happens here.

In the field I'm most familiar with (I work for a life science supply company) -- almost no significant drug research takes place outside the US -- even the largest European companies have their major research labs in the US.

 

[Meloncov]

Lagging behind, no. However, the relative position of our sciences to those of other countries are not as far apart as the once were, and the gap continues to close.

 

[WayneLigon]

I don't think so, and I try to ignore most of the school horror stories I hear as usual scare tactics from the media. I'm not in the field, though, so I don't know what's true and what's false. I do know two teachers personally (one at a public, one at a private school) and they both lament the quality of education. Neither one is a science teacher, though, so I'm unsure how they view the general quality of science education.

I think that we could do a lot better in instilling an appreciation for science and scientists in our children. Science has taken a real beating as far as public image goes and that needs to be changed.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

That's not just wrong, but wildly wrong. If you look at objective measures (patents awarded, money spent on research, number of PhDs produced, etc.), the US dominates most fields. This isn't saying that interesting work isn't happening in other countries, but a lot more happens here.

In the field I'm most familiar with (I work for a life science supply company) -- almost no significant drug research takes place outside the US -- even the largest European companies have their major research labs in the US.

Ahhh, ok. It just seemed to me that a lot of other countries were jumping ahead while the U.S. was lagging.

 

[Stone Angel]

Well whatever the case we could do better, but I do not believe that we are struggling and eventually will be assimilated by another nation that has much better science.


The Seraph of Earth and Stone

 

[Umbran]

It also depends upon what you call "lagging behind", and who you're comparing to.

As an example - one would expect the US to lead ahead of any particular European nation. However, if you look at the European Union as a whole - they have a higher population, higher gross domestic product, and so on. You'd expect the US to be behind the EU.

 

[tarchon]

If we're lagging, all we need to do is add more reactance of opposite sign to the load.

 

[der_kluge]

I think one area where the U.S. could lag behind is in embryonic stem cell research. We place a great amount of concern over the cloning and use of embryonic stem cells - cells which will be destroyed regardless, and could be used to cure diabetes, alzheimers, and other diseases. Japan, and Europe have no such qualms, so while we bicker over politics in these areas, it seems likely that the next great advancements here could come from other countries.

 

[reanjr]

That's not just wrong, but wildly wrong. If you look at objective measures (patents awarded, money spent on research, number of PhDs produced, etc.), the US dominates most fields. This isn't saying that interesting work isn't happening in other countries, but a lot more happens here.

In the field I'm most familiar with (I work for a life science supply company) -- almost no significant drug research takes place outside the US -- even the largest European companies have their major research labs in the US.

You can't use patents awarded because different countries award patents differently. U.S. policy is to award a patent when in doubt and let someone fight it if that decision was wrong.