In this op-ed, L. Rafael Reif, president of MIT, describes the importance of funding basic science research.

“Scientists are like entrepreneurs: They have an eye for spotting unrealized opportunities. It can be hard to predict where those leads will take them. But as we have seen over decades, basic science leads to the new knowledge that leads all of us to the future, along the way spinning off powerful new tools and educating a new generation of scientific pioneers.”