WHAT IS IT?
A new study finds a steady drop since 1945 in disruptive feats as a share of the world’s booming enterprise in scientific and technological advancement.
WHY IMPORTANT
Investments in science are caught in a spiral of diminishing returns and that quantity in some respects is outpacing quality. It also raises questions about the extent to which science can open new frontiers and sustain the kind of boldness that unlocked the atom and the universe and what can be done to address the shift away from pioneering discovery.