The Science Policy of Small Nations
Fritz Haber, winner of the 1918 Nobel prize for his Invention of synthetic nitrogen (ammonia), once said during a visit to the United States that while the U.S. could afford to get eight failed experiments out of ten, Germany could only afford to get two. By this he meant that, since Germany did not have the vast financial resources the U.S. had, she could not afford to do bad science. Although his comment pertained to a relatively sophisticated and industrialized state, it is indicative of the problems small nations face when funding science.
A nation that is geographically small will tend to have a small economy. Usually, the small region will mean that it has a small amount of natural resources, a small population base, a relatively small market, and so forth. This, in turn, leads to a particular fiscal dynamic rather typical of the small state. Since it is small in size and complexity, it usually cannot produce all of the goods it needs, and thus tends to focus on the one product it can competitively produce and sell on the world market. Cuba is perhaps a classic example. Throughout this century, the main focus of its economy has been the exportation of sugar in order to receive the currency needed to obtain manufactured goods. A similar dynamic exists with regard to the ability of a small state, or lack thereof, to fund science.
Because of its rather limited resources, the small state usually cannot afford to invest in all scientific areas with the same high level of funding that a large state can. These fiscal realities impose upon the small state the need to choose and be highly selective of the projects which it decides to fund, as Haber insinuated. Otherwise, it will likely end up in the opposite condition it hoped to achieve: financial ruin. This dynamic, in turn, means that there will also tend to be a highly practical emphasis with regard to the expected outcome of this research, rightly so or not. In other words, the small state will tend to invest only in those projects for which there are clear and viable short term fiscal rewards. We may take Cuba, again, as an example.
Since the rise of Castro, two prominent scientific efforts were undertaken in the fields of physics and biology, which surprisingly had a relative degree of success. During the 1970's, after much bitter quarrel and lengthy debate, Cuba decided to develop its solid state physics, out of all other potential areas in physics and scientific disciplines, because it would hopefully lead to products in the then newly emerging computer industry. Similarly, during the 1980's, there was a move in Cuban biology to produce goods for the pharmaceutical market. In both cases, their efforts led to products which, for a short while, had a relative degree of success. However, in both cases, because the science had been mainly 'borrowed', Cuba was unable to compete because she was unable to keep up with the latest advances in the respective fields, which eventually passed her up. The same factors which had forced Cuba to choose at the same time would also prevent her from keeping a lead in the scientific race: a small economy.
Puerto Rico is no exception to the rule. In the 1980's, its investment in scientific research was a mere .05% of its total GNP, in comparison to the usual 2.5%. However, because of its political ties to the U.S., the total investment in science has been relatively high in comparison to that found in many other small nations. In 1995, a total of $51 million was given to local scientific research by U.S. federal agencies as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Curiously, the vast majority of this investment went into biology-related fields, 76%, while a mere 7% went into the other sciences as physics and chemistry. While these sums pale in comparison to the total U.S. science budget of $36 billion (1995), these federal funds constituted nearly 100% of the total Puertorican science budget.
We may safetly conclude that if the political relations to the U.S. were to be severed, so would nearly all of the scientific research that occurs in the island. The chances that a Puertorican Nobel Prize winner were to emerge would be driven to nearly zero. Modern 20th century science is usually referred to as "big science" for a reason: it is "big" in people, tools, and money. Usually, only "big nations" can sucessfully compete in the race--unless, of course, there are anomalous political relations involved.
It also suggests that scientific policy in Puerto Rico need not be entirely restrained by the geographical constraints of the small state. Because of its political ties, it has the opportunity to undertake long-term research agendas which are much more likely to result in genuine scientific discoveries and technological advancements. Modern telecommunications and transportation systems would not exist had there been an overly tangible scientific criteria. As John Stuart Mill once wrote, one can never predict what the outcome of scientific research will be, but its results can be utterly astonishing.