Quote (Black XistenZ @ Apr 13 2019 03:07pm)
Would you consider physics or chemistry to be heavily intertwined in politics? What about mathematics, what about computer science?
As I said, imho medicine and climatology are two of the most politicized fields, and their degree of politicization is not representative of the entirety of (hard) science.
Computer science - absolutely. You've seen the threads on Chinese hackers and the theft of intellectual property. That happens primarily via computers, and the government is currently in the process of trying to incentivize graduate education in security because we simply don't have enough M.S. and Ph.D. trained computer scientists to develop security algorithms.
Chemistry - absolutely. Mainly because it's fundamentally intertwined with the development of medicine and the study of biochemistry/physiology. It's much easier to get a grant if you pitch it as "this could be used as an inhibitor of whatever enzyme" compared to pure science.
Physis - again, absolutely. My introduction to physics professor had a grant from the military to develop materials with specific properties.
Remember that basic science and applied science aren't actually separate entities. The distinction only exists in if you are developing an application at that moment, but in five years any "pure science" can become applied.