Question: In what way does your work benefit human society?

Martin McCoustra answered on 6 Mar 2018:

I often get asked that question… My usual answer is to put it back to the questioner and ask them what is the benefit of great literature, music or art to human society? There is basically no difference between the thirst for knowledge and understanding that drives creative science than the cultural drivers behind creating great pieces of music or art. They enhance society by their very existence and are not simply a mechanism for economic return. Fundamental science may not have an immediate application but eventually it might. Take magnetic resonance imaging as an example. The fundamental science that underpins this key medical technology was well understood by the 1950s. If back then they’d held the view that the area was simply blues skies and off no economic benefit then it is very unlikely that the ground-breaking developments in MRI made in the UK in the 1970s would never have occurred and we would not have MRI. Sometimes trying to guess what developments might accrue from fundamental science is little more than crystal ball gazing!