Basic and applied sciences examples. Basic and applied research

What are fundamental and applied sciences? The answer to this question can be found by considering the structure of modern scientific knowledge. It is diverse, complex and covers thousands of different disciplines, each of which is a separate science.

Science and its understanding in the modern world

The entire history of mankind is evidence of a constant search. This ongoing process pushed man to develop various forms and ways of understanding the world, one of which is science. It is she, acting as a component of culture, that allows a person to “get acquainted” with the world around him, to learn the laws of development and ways of existence.

By acquiring scientific knowledge, a person discovers endless possibilities that allow him to transform the reality around him.

The definition of science as a special sphere of human activity leads to an understanding of its main task. The essence of the latter is the systematization of existing and the so-called production of new knowledge about the reality surrounding man, about the various aspects of this reality. This concept of science allows us to imagine it as a certain system that includes many elements connected by a common methodology or worldview. The components here are various scientific disciplines: social and humanitarian, technical, natural and others. Today there are more than ten thousand of them.

Approaches to classification of sciences

The diversity and complexity of the entire system of science determines the consideration of its features from two sides, such as:

• practical applicability;
• subject community.

In the first case, the entire set of scientific disciplines can be divided into two large groups: fundamental and applied sciences. If the latter are directly related to practice and are aimed at solving specific problems, then the former, acting as a kind of basis, are guidelines in the formation of a general idea of ​​the world.

In the second, turning to the content side that characterizes disciplines based on three subject areas (man, society and nature), three are distinguished:

• natural, or, as they also say, natural science, which studies various aspects of nature, these are physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, astronomy, etc.;
• public or social, studying various aspects of public life (sociology, political science, etc.);
• humanitarian - here the object is a person and everything connected with him: his culture, language, interests, rights, etc.

The essence of the differences between sciences

Let's consider what underlies the division into applied and fundamental sciences.

The first can be represented as a certain system of knowledge that has a very definite practical orientation. They are aimed at solving any specific problems: increasing crop yields, reducing morbidity, etc.
In other words, applied sciences are those whose research results pursue a clear and, as a rule, practical goal.

Basic sciences, being more abstract, serve higher purposes. Actually, their name speaks for itself. The system of this knowledge forms the foundation of the entire edifice of science and gives an idea of ​​the scientific picture of the world. It is here that the concepts, laws, principles, theories and concepts that form the basis of applied sciences are created.

The problem of ambivalence in science

Applied sciences, acting as solutions to specific problems, are often not without some duality in their final results. On the one hand, new knowledge is a stimulus for further progress; it significantly expands human capabilities. On the other hand, they create new, sometimes intractable problems, having a negative impact on people and the world around them.

Serving someone's private interests, obtaining excess profits, applied sciences in the hands of man violate the harmony created by the Creator: they negatively affect health, oppress or stimulate natural processes, replace natural elements with synthetic ones, etc.

This part of science causes a very controversial attitude towards itself, since such serving the needs of man to the detriment of nature carries a significant threat to the existence of the planet as a whole.

The relationship between applied and fundamental in science

The possibility of a clear division of sciences into the above groups is disputed by some researchers. They base their objections on the fact that any area of ​​scientific knowledge, starting its journey with goals very far from practice, can ultimately transform into a predominantly applied area.

The development of any branch of science takes place in two stages. The essence of the first is the accumulation of knowledge to a certain level. Overcoming it and moving on to the next one is marked by the ability to carry out any type of practical activity based on the information received. The second stage consists of further development of the acquired knowledge and its application in any specific industry.

The point of view accepted by many, which relates the results of fundamental science to new knowledge, and applied science to their practical application, is not entirely correct. The problem is that there is a substitution of results and goals. After all, new knowledge is often possible thanks to applied research, and the discovery of hitherto unknown technologies can be the result of fundamental ones.

The fundamental differences between these components of science are the properties of the results obtained. In the case of applied research, they are predictable and expected, but in fundamental research, they are unpredictable and can “overturn” already established theories, which gives rise to much more valuable knowledge.

The relationship between the humanities and social sciences

This subject area of ​​scientific knowledge pays attention to the problems of man, studying him as an object from a variety of angles. However, there is no consensus yet on which sciences should be classified as humanities. The reason for these disagreements can be considered social disciplines, which also relate to man, but only from the standpoint of considering him in society. According to a number of sciences, a person without society cannot be formed in the full sense of the word. An example of this is children who find themselves and grow up in a pack of animals. Having missed an important stage in their socialization, they were never able to become full-fledged people.

The way out of this situation was the combined name: social and humanitarian knowledge. It characterizes a person not only as an individual subject, but also as a participant in social relations.

Social and humanitarian knowledge in the applied aspect

The number of scientific disciplines that form this subject area is significant: history, sociology, political science, psychology, philosophy, economics, philology, theology, archaeology, cultural studies, jurisprudence, etc. All these are humanities. Applied aspects of many of them appeared as they developed. Such disciplines as sociology, psychology, political and legal sciences are most clearly manifested in this quality. They were fundamental and became the basis for practical ones. In the social and humanitarian sphere, applied sciences include: applied psychology, political technology, legal psychology, criminology, social engineering, management psychology, etc.

Legal sciences and their role in the development of applied knowledge

This branch of scientific knowledge also contains fundamental and applied sciences. Here the division between them can be easily traced. There is a fundamental discipline - the theory of state and law. It contains the main concepts, categories, methodology, principles and is the basis for the development of jurisprudence as a whole.

All other disciplines, including applied legal sciences, are developed on the basis of the theory of state and law. Their appearance is based on the use of so-called non-legal knowledge from various fields: statistics, medicine, sociology, psychology, etc. This combination at one time opened up new opportunities for people to ensure the rule of law.

The list of legal disciplines that form applied sciences is quite large. It includes criminology, criminology, legal psychology, forensic medicine, forensic statistics, legal informatics, forensic psychology and others. As we see, here applied sciences include not only purely legal disciplines, but mainly those that do not relate to jurisprudence.

Problems of applied science

Speaking about this area of ​​scientific knowledge, it should be noted that it, like the fundamental one, is designed to serve man and solve his problems. Actually, this is what applied sciences do. In a broad aspect, their tasks should be formed as a social order of society, allowing them to solve pressing problems. However, in practice, taking into account the specific nature of applied problems, everything is seen differently.

As already noted, the development of applied sciences can be built on the basis of fundamental ones. The existing close, almost genetic connection between them does not allow us to draw a clear boundary here. And therefore, the tasks of applied sciences are determined by the improvement of fundamental research, which consists of the following:

• the possibility of discovering unknown facts;
• systematization of acquired theoretical knowledge;
• formulation of new laws and discoveries;
• formation of theories based on the introduction of new concepts, concepts and ideas into science.

In turn, applied sciences use the acquired knowledge for the following purposes:

• development and implementation of new technologies;
• designing various devices and devices;
• study of the influence of chemical, physical and other processes on substances and objects.

The list will continue as long as man and science exist as a special form of knowledge of reality. But the main task of applied science is seen to be its service to humanity and its needs.

Applied tasks of humanities

These disciplines center around the individual and society. Here they perform their specific tasks, determined by their subject.

The development of applied sciences is possible both with the priority of the practical component and the theoretical one. The first direction is widespread and covers various branches of scientific knowledge, which have already been mentioned.

Regarding the second direction, it should be noted that applied theoretical sciences are built on completely different foundations. Here the foundation is:

• hypotheses;
• patterns;
• abstractions;
• generalizations, etc.

The complexity of this type of knowledge lies in the fact that it assumes the presence of a special type of constructs - abstract objects that are linked together by theoretical laws and are aimed at studying the essence of phenomena and processes. As a rule, philosophy, economics, sociology, political and legal sciences resort to such methods of understanding reality. In addition to theoretical foundations, they can also use empirical data, as well as the apparatus of mathematical disciplines.

Modern science as a whole is a complex, developing, structured system that includes blocks of natural, social and human sciences. There are about 15,000 sciences in the world and each of them has its own object of study and its own specific research methods. Science would not be so productive if it did not have such a developed system of methods, principles and imperatives of knowledge. The new position of science in the 19th and 20th centuries, under the influence of the intensive growth of scientific thought, brought to the forefront the applied importance of science both in the community and at every step: in private, personal and collective life.

Fundamental and applied in science

The structure of science includes fundamental and applied research, fundamental and applied sciences. Fundamental and applied research differ primarily in their goals and objectives. Fundamental sciences do not have special practical goals; they give us general knowledge and understanding of the principles of the structure and evolution of the world and its vast areas. Transformations in the fundamental sciences are a transformation in the style of scientific thinking; in the scientific picture of the world, they are a change in the paradigm of thinking.

Fundamental sciences are fundamental precisely because on their basis the flourishing of very many and varied applied sciences is possible. The latter is possible, since the fundamental sciences develop basic models of cognition that underlie the knowledge of vast fragments of reality. Real cognition always forms a system of models, hierarchically organized. Each applied area of ​​research is characterized by its own specific concepts and laws, the disclosure of which occurs on the basis of special experimental and theoretical means. The concepts and laws of fundamental theory serve as the basis for bringing all information about the system under study into a coherent system. By determining the development of research in a fairly wide area of ​​phenomena, fundamental science thereby determines the general features of the formulation and methods for solving a wide class of research problems.

When considering applied research and science, emphasis is often placed on the application of scientific results to the solution of well-defined technical and technological problems. The main task of these studies is considered as the direct development of certain technical systems and processes. The development of applied sciences is associated with solving practical problems and takes into account the needs of practice. At the same time, it should be emphasized that the main “purpose” of applied research, as well as fundamental research, is precisely research, and not the development of certain technical systems. The results of applied sciences precede the development of technical devices and technologies, but not vice versa. In applied scientific research, the center of gravity lies on the concept of “science”, and not on the concept of “application”. The differences between fundamental and applied research lie in the peculiarities of the choice of research areas and the choice of research objects, but the methods and results have independent value. In fundamental science, the choice of problems is determined primarily by the internal logic of its development and the technical capabilities of carrying out relevant experiments. In applied sciences, the choice of problems and the choice of research objects is determined by the influence of the demands of society - technical, economic and social problems. These differences are largely relative. Basic research can also be stimulated by external needs, for example, the search for new energy sources. On the other hand, an important example from applied physics: the invention of the transistor was by no means a consequence of immediate practical needs.

Applied sciences lie on the path from fundamental sciences to direct technical developments and practical applications. Since the mid-20th century, there has been a sharp increase in the scale and significance of such research. These changes were noted, for example, by E. L. Feinberg: “In our time, it seems to us, we can talk about the flourishing of a special stage in the scientific and technical research chain, intermediate between fundamental science and direct technical (scientific and technical) implementation. It is on this, one can believe, that the great development of work, for example, in solid state physics, plasma physics and quantum electronics, is based. A researcher working in this intermediate area is a genuine research physicist, but he, as a rule, himself sees in a more or less distant future a specific technical problem for the solution of which he must create the basis as a research engineer. The practical usefulness of future applications of his work is here not only the objective basis for the need for research (as it has always been and is for all science), but also a subjective incentive. The flourishing of such research is so significant that in some respects it changes the entire panorama of science. Such transformations are characteristic of the entire front of the development of scientific research activities; in the case of the social sciences, they are manifested in the increasing role and importance of sociological research.”

The driving force behind the development of applied sciences is not only utilitarian problems of production development, but also the spiritual needs of man. Applied and basic sciences have a positive mutual influence. This is evidenced by the history of knowledge, the history of the development of fundamental sciences. Thus, the development of such applied sciences as continuum mechanics and mechanics of many-particle systems led, respectively, to the development of fundamental areas of research - Maxwellian electrodynamics and statistical physics, and the development of electrodynamics of moving media - to the creation of (special) theory of relativity.

Basic and applied research play different roles in society and in relation to science itself. Science is developing on a broad front and has a complex structure, which in many ways can be likened to the structure of highly organized systems, primarily living systems. In living systems there are subsystems and processes occurring in them that are aimed at maintaining the systems themselves in a living, active, active state, but there are subsystems and processes aimed at interacting with the environment, at carrying out metabolism with the environment. Similarly, in science, one can distinguish subsystems and processes that are oriented, first of all, to maintaining science in an active and active state, and there are subsystems and processes focused on the external manifestations of science, its involvement in other types of activities. The development of fundamental science is aimed, first of all, at the internal needs and interests of science, at maintaining the functioning of science as a whole, and this is achieved through the development of generalized ideas and methods of cognition that characterize the deep foundations of existence. Accordingly, they talk about “pure” science, theoretical science, about knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Applied sciences are aimed outward, towards assimilation with other, practical types of human activity, and especially towards assimilation with production. Hence they talk about practical science aimed at changing the world.

Basic research can be divided into two large groups. One of them is aimed at increasing the volume of our knowledge, designed to satisfy the need of humanity as a whole and, above all, a specific person - a researcher - for an ever deeper knowledge of the objective world. Another group of studies aims to obtain the fundamental knowledge necessary to answer the question of how to achieve a particular practical result. As a rule, at a certain stage of the development of science, the subject content of one or another group of fundamental research is different, but methodologically they are close to each other, and a sharp boundary cannot be drawn between them.

The recent history of science speaks of the interaction, interweaving, and mutual transformation of these two groups of fundamental research. However, this was not always the case. And above all, because the applied significance of fundamental research did not immediately surface in public perception. For centuries, fundamental research, that is, research that was in no way related to the topic of the day, was carried out separately from applied research and did not solve any practical problems. The greatest achievements of modern times have nothing to do with practice in the strict sense of the word. Rather, on the contrary, science walked behind, explaining, but not predicting, not foreseeing something new and not pushing for invention, creation of something new.

Fundamental research is research that discovers new phenomena and patterns; it is research into what lies in the nature of things, phenomena, and events. But when conducting fundamental research, one can pose both a purely scientific problem and a specific practical problem. One should not think that if a purely scientific problem is posed, then such research cannot provide a practical solution. Equally, one should not think that if fundamental research is carried out aimed at solving a practically important problem, then such research cannot have general scientific significance.

The gradual increase in the volume of fundamental knowledge about the nature of things leads to the fact that they are increasingly becoming the basis of applied research. The fundamental is the basis of the applied. Any state is interested in the development of fundamental science as the basis of new applied science and, most often, military science. State leaders often do not understand that science has its own laws of development, that it is self-sufficient and sets its own tasks. (There is no head of state who could set a competent task for fundamental science. For applied science this is possible, since tasks for applied sciences often arise from the practice of life.) The state often allocates little funds for the development of fundamental research and hinders the development of science. However, fundamental science and fundamental research must be carried out and they will exist as long as humanity exists.

Fundamental sciences and fundamentality in education are especially important. If a person is not fundamentally trained, then he will be poorly trained in a specific task, and will poorly understand and perform a specific task. A person must be trained first of all in what lies at the foundation of his profession.

The main property of fundamental science is its predictive power.

Forms ways of knowing that correlate between the natural sciences and the humanities, which allows the existence of modes of activity in accordance with the circumstances of various spheres of life and production.

Tasks and functions

The tasks of fundamental science include establishing identity in the relationship of epistemology, axiology and being in order to create a system of scientific knowledge in which old knowledge is preserved, new knowledge is accumulated and use (transfer) is organized in accordance with the needs of the development of the sciences themselves and the needs of practice. Creates conditions for the accumulation of intellectual capital, under which science manifests itself as a productive force in society.

Forms a methodology for the development of science, taking into account the relationship with methodology and technology. Otherwise, sciences disappear in mere theorizing, in the mutual use of methods in borderline sciences and disciplines, and standard technologies are born, such as Lego in robotics.

Methodology, techniques and technologies correspond to strategy, tactics, technology in any activity and games, for example, chess. Methodology, as a fundamental science, determines the general strategy for the development of knowledge in general and in individual sciences, forming the boundaries of knowledge, involving various sciences, taking into account their cross-cutting connections, formed by category words. The methodology forms tactical research and activities taking into account purpose, meaning and understanding. Technologies create a base of possibilities in ways of knowing and acting. In chess, these are various pieces with rules of action.

The presence of the identity of epistemology, axiology, and ontology in any fundamental science forms relations of similarity in them - at this level there are no differences between the natural and human sciences.

Fundamental sciences form a system for the preservation, accumulation and transfer of intellectual capital, which affects labor productivity in all spheres of society. The profitability of basic sciences far exceeds individual scientific achievements.

Thus, the second article of the Russian Federal Law of August 23, 1996 No. 127-FZ “On Science and State Scientific and Technical Policy” gives the following definition of fundamental research:

Experimental or theoretical activity aimed at obtaining new knowledge about the basic laws of the structure, functioning and development of man, society, and the natural environment.

History and evolution

The desire to discover cross-cutting connections between various types of activities through formalization and figurative presentation ensured the fundamentalism of knowledge, the presence of connections between the physical and spiritual world. So in the 8th century B.C. e. The philosophical school of yin yang jia (Book of Changes) forms ideas about end-to-end connections between mountains, rivers, seas, animals and people. They still define the features of oriental medicine, in contrast to European and Russian medicine, where symptomatic and nosological principles dominate.

The absolutization of experimental knowledge led to the dominance of pluralism of opinions and the distancing of sciences from the management of social processes. Over the past 50 years, in countries of Europe, the USA and Russia, methodology has disappeared in scientific knowledge, humanism in the sciences has become not inherent, but a proper attitude. During these years, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and then the FANO, annually drew up plans to search for fundamental sciences and conduct fundamental research. But there are no results not only in Russia, but throughout the world.

The fundamental approach has also disappeared in the organization of education. According to the Bologna Agreement, Russia abandoned the organization of the relationship “knowledge (A) - skills (B) - skill (C) and the organization of training taking into account the abilities of children, students and the needs of society. In Russia they also began to sell separately knowledge, separately skills, separately skills, calling them competencies - thereby destroying the education system, turning it into a separate and free from society enterprise for the sale of air. The formation of practical reason ceased everywhere.

Errors of interpretation

M. V. Lomonosov warned about the dangers that are fraught with misunderstanding, and even more so with public coverage of issues related to rather complex scientific problems, in his “Discussion on the duties of journalists when presenting their works, intended to maintain freedom of philosophy” ( 1754); These concerns remain relevant to this day. They are also fair in relation to the current interpretation of the role and significance of the fundamental sciences - the attribution of research of a different “genre” to their competence.

A typical situation is when there is a misunderstanding of the terms themselves. basic science And basic research, - their incorrect use, and when for fundamentality in the context of such use it is worth thoroughness any scientific project. Such studies, in most cases, are related to large-scale research within the applied sciences, to large-scale works subordinate to the interests of certain industries, etc. Here for fundamentality only attribute is worth significance, moreover, in no way can they be attributed to fundamental- in the meaning described above. It is precisely this misunderstanding that gives rise to a deformation of ideas about the true meaning of truly fundamental science (in terms of modern science), which begins to be regarded exclusively as “pure science” in the most misleading interpretation, that is, as a science divorced from real practical needs, as serving, for example, corporate egghead problems.

The fairly rapid development of technology and systematic methods (in relation to the implementation of what has been obtained and long ago “predicted” by fundamental science) creates conditions for a different kind of incorrect classification of scientific research, when a new direction, belonging to the field of interdisciplinary research, is regarded as the success of mastering the technological base, or vice versa, is presented only in the form of a line of development - fundamental. While these scientific studies indeed owe their origin to the latter, they are more related to applied ones, and only indirectly serve the development of fundamental science.

An example of this is nanotechnology, the foundation of which, relatively recently, in terms of the development of science, was laid, among many other areas of fundamental research, by colloid chemistry, the study of dispersed systems and surface phenomena. However, this does not mean that the fundamental research underlying this or that new technology should be completely subordinated to it, absorbing the support of other areas; when there is a danger of repurposing into industrial research institutions designed to engage in fundamental research of a fairly wide range.

see also

• Committee on Scientific Terminology in the Field of Basic Sciences

Notes

Literature

• Science / Alekseev I. S. // Morshin - Nikish. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1974. - (Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / chief ed. A. M. Prokhorov; 1969-1978, vol. 17).
• Alekseev I. S. Science // Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. editor: L. F. Ilyichev, P. N. Fedoseev, S. M. Kovalev, V. G. Panov. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1983. - P. 403-406. - 840 s. - 150,000 copies.
• Louis de Broglie. Along the paths of science. - M.: Foreign Literature Publishing House, 1962
• Volkova V. N. Concepts of modern natural science: Textbook. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg State Technical University Publishing House, 2006
• Gadamer H.-G. Truth and Method. General edition and introductory article by B. N. Bessonov. - M.:

Fundamental science is a science that aims to create theoretical concepts and models, the practical applicability of which is not obvious. 1. The task of fundamental sciences is to understand the laws governing the behavior and interaction of the basic structures of nature, society and thinking. These laws and structures are studied in their “pure form”, as such, without regard to their possible use. Fundamental and applied science have different methods and subjects of research, different approaches and angles of view on social reality. Each of them has its own quality criteria, its own techniques and methodology, its own understanding of the functions of a scientist, its own history and even its own ideology. In other words, your own world and your own subculture.

Natural science is an example of fundamental science. It is aimed at understanding nature as it is in itself, regardless of what application its discoveries will receive: space exploration or environmental pollution. And natural science does not pursue any other goal. This is science for science's sake, i.e. knowledge of the surrounding world, the discovery of the fundamental laws of existence and the increase in fundamental knowledge.

The immediate goal of applied sciences is to apply the results of fundamental sciences to solve not only cognitive but also practical problems. Therefore, here the criterion of success is not only the achievement of truth, but also the measure of satisfaction of social order. As a rule, fundamental sciences are ahead of applied sciences in their development, creating a theoretical foundation for them. In modern science, applied sciences account for up to 80-90% of all research and allocations. Indeed, basic science constitutes only a small part of the total volume of scientific research.

Applied science is a science aimed at obtaining a specific scientific result that can actually or potentially be used to satisfy private or public needs. 2. An important role is played by developments that translate the results of applied sciences into the form of technological processes, designs, and social engineering projects. For example, the Perm system of stabilization of the workforce (STK) was initially developed within the framework of fundamental sociology, relying on its principles, theories, and models. After that, it was specified, giving it not only a finished form and a practical form, but also determining the time frame for implementation and the financial and human resources required for this. At the applied stage, the STK system was repeatedly tested at a number of enterprises in the USSR. Only after this did it take the form of a practical program and was ready for widespread dissemination (stage of development and implementation).

Basic research includes experimental and theoretical research aimed at obtaining new knowledge without any specific purpose associated with the use of this knowledge. Their result is hypotheses, theories, methods, etc. Fundamental research can end with recommendations for conducting applied research to identify opportunities for practical use of the results obtained, scientific publications, etc.

The US National Science Foundation has given the following definition of the concept of fundamental research:

Fundamental research is a part of scientific research activity aimed at replenishing the total volume of theoretical knowledge... They do not have predetermined commercial goals, although they can be carried out in areas that are of interest or may be of interest in the future to business practitioners.

Fundamental and applied sciences are two completely different types of activity. In the beginning, and this happened in ancient times, the distance between them was insignificant and almost everything that was discovered in the field of fundamental science immediately or in a short time found application in practice. Archimedes discovered the law of leverage, which was immediately used in warfare and engineering. And the ancient Egyptians discovered geometric axioms, literally without leaving the ground, since geometric science arose from the needs of agriculture. The distance gradually increased and today reached its maximum. In practice, less than 1% of the discoveries made in pure science are implemented. In the 1980s, the Americans conducted an evaluation study (the purpose of such studies is to assess the practical significance of scientific developments and their effectiveness). For more than 8 years, a dozen research groups analyzed 700 technological innovations in weapons systems. The results stunned the public: 91% of inventions had previous applied technology as their source, and only 9% had achievements in the field of science. Moreover, of these, only 0.3% have a source in the area of ​​pure (fundamental) research.

Fundamental science deals exclusively with the increment of new knowledge, applied science deals only with the application of proven knowledge. The acquisition of new knowledge is the vanguard of science, the testing of new knowledge is its rearguard, i.e. substantiation and verification of once acquired knowledge, transformation of current research into the “solid core” of science. Practical application is the activity of applying “hard core” knowledge to real life problems. As a rule, the “hard core” of science is displayed in textbooks, teaching aids, methodological developments and all kinds of guides.

One of the main features of fundamental knowledge is its intellectuality. As a rule, it has the status of a scientific discovery and is a priority in its field. In other words, it is considered exemplary, standard.

Fundamental knowledge in science is a relatively small part of the experimentally tested scientific theories and methodological principles or analytical techniques that scientists use as a guiding program. The rest of the knowledge is the result of ongoing empirical and applied research, a set of explanatory models, so far accepted as hypothetical schemes, intuitive concepts and so-called “trial” theories.

The foundation of classical physics used to be Newtonian mechanics, and the entire mass of practical experiments at that time was based on it. Newton's laws served as the “solid core” of physics, and current research only confirmed and refined existing knowledge. Later, the theory of quantum mechanics was created, which became the foundation of modern physics. It explained physical processes in a new way, gave a different picture of the world, and operated with other analytical principles and methodological tools.

Fundamental science is also called academic because it develops mainly in universities and academies of sciences. A university professor may work part-time on commercial projects, even work part-time for a private consulting or research firm. But he always remains a university professor, looking down a little on those who are constantly engaged in marketing or advertising surveys, without rising to the discovery of new knowledge, who have never published in serious academic journals.

Thus, sociology, which deals with the increase of new knowledge and in-depth analysis of phenomena, has two names: the term “fundamental sociology” indicates the nature of the knowledge acquired, and the term “academic sociology” indicates its place in the social structure of society.

Fundamental ideas lead to revolutionary changes. After their publication, the scientific community can no longer think and study in the old way. Worldviews, theoretical orientation, scientific research strategy, and sometimes the methods of empirical work themselves are transformed in the most dramatic way. A new perspective seems to be opening up before the eyes of scientists. Huge sums of money are spent on fundamental research, because only they, in case of success, albeit quite rare, lead to a serious shift in science.

Fundamental science has as its goal the knowledge of objective reality as it exists in itself. Applied sciences have a completely different goal - changing natural objects in the direction necessary for humans. It is applied research that is directly related to engineering and technology. Basic research is relatively independent from applied research.

Applied science differs from fundamental science (and it must include theoretical and empirical knowledge) in its practical orientation. Fundamental science deals exclusively with the increment of new knowledge, applied science deals exclusively with the application of proven knowledge. The acquisition of new knowledge is the vanguard or periphery of science, the approbation of new knowledge is its substantiation and verification, the transformation of current research into the “hard core” of science, application is the activity of applying the knowledge of the “hard core” to practical problems. As a rule, the “hard core” of science is displayed in textbooks, teaching aids, methodological developments and all kinds of guides.

The translation of fundamental results into applied developments can be carried out by the same scientists, different specialists, or special institutes, design bureaus, implementation firms and companies are created for this purpose. Applied research includes such developments, the “output” of which is a specific customer who pays a lot of money for the finished result. Therefore, the final product of applied developments is presented in the form of products, patents, programs, etc. It is believed that scientists whose applied developments are not bought should reconsider their approaches and make their products competitive. Such demands are never made to representatives of fundamental science.

Fundamental applied research in science is becoming increasingly important every year. In this regard, the issue of determining the place of applied research and basic sciences is relevant.

Depending on the specifics of science, there is a different connection between its theoretical and practical results with social life and real production. The division of ongoing research into applied and fundamental was caused by an increase in the scale of scientific work, as well as an increase in the application of its results in practice.

Significance of scientific research

Science, as a specific form of social institution and consciousness, appears and is formed as a type of knowledge of the laws of the natural world, promotes the purposeful mastery of them, and the subordination of natural elements for the benefit of humanity. Of course, even before the discovery of various laws, people used the forces of nature.

But the scale of such interaction was very limited; they mainly came down to observations, generalizations, and the transfer of recipes and traditions from generation to generation. After the emergence of the natural sciences (geography, biology, chemistry, physics), practical activity acquired a rational path of development. For practical implementation, they began to use not empirics, but the objective laws of living nature.

Separation of theory from practice

Immediately after the emergence of fundamental science, action and cognition, practice and theory began to complement each other, together solving certain problems that made it possible to significantly increase the level of social development.

In the process of scientific progress, inevitable specialization and division of labor appears in the field of research activities. Even in the theoretical sphere, experiments are separated from the fundamental basis.

Industrial significance

The experimental base in chemistry, physics, and biology is currently associated with industrial production. For example, modern installations for carrying out thermonuclear transformations are presented in full accordance with factory reactors. The main goal of the applied industry is currently considered to be testing certain hypotheses and theories, searching for rational ways to implement results in specific production.

Space research

After the separation of applied and theoretical activities in natural science, new types of applied disciplines appeared: technical physics, applied chemistry. Among the interesting areas of technical knowledge, radio engineering, nuclear energy, and the space industry are of particular importance.

Many results of fundamental technical disciplines, for example, strength of materials, applied mechanics, radio electronics, electrical engineering are not directly used in practice, but on their basis various industrial productions operate, without which it is impossible to create a single modern electronic gadget.

Currently, no one considers technical disciplines as separate areas; they are being introduced into almost all branches of natural science and production.

New trends

To solve complex and complex technical problems, new tasks and goals are set for applied areas, separate laboratories are created in which not only fundamental but also applied research is carried out.

For example, cybernetics, as well as related disciplines, contribute to the modeling of processes occurring in nature and living organisms, help to study the features of ongoing processes, and look for ways to solve identified problems.

This confirms the relationship between applied and basic scientific research.

Conclusion

Based on the results of their research, not only sociologists talk about the need to search for a close relationship between applied experiments and scientific fundamental laws. Scientists themselves understand the urgency of the problem and are looking for ways out of the current situation. The academician has repeatedly recognized the artificiality of dividing science into applied and basic parts. He always emphasized the difficulty of finding that fine line that would become the boundary between practice and theory.

A. Yu. Ishlinsky said that it is the “abstract sciences” that are capable of making the maximum contribution to the formation of society, its development and formation.

But at the same time, there is also feedback, which involves the use of practical research results to explain scientific facts and laws of nature.

All experiments of an applied nature, which are not fundamental in nature, are aimed specifically at obtaining a specific result, that is, they involve the implementation of the results obtained in real production. That is why the relevance of searching for the relationship between the scientific and practical spheres when carrying out work in research centers and specialized laboratories is high.