“Many fields of science now resemble war zones”

The “soul” of science has changed due to its exponential growth, says Univ.-Prof. em. Dr. Gottfried Schatz, former secretary general of EMBO, in an essay in Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology (May 2014).

Exponential growth will lead to qualitative change, says Schatz.”Little Science has become Big Science and has changed its soul. 80–90% of all scientists who ever lived are living today — and 80–90% of all research findings ever recorded are going to be made during their lifetime. Every decade now produces as many new scientists as have ever lived before.”

Schatz: “Our science curricula teach scientific facts, technical tricks, ‘professional ethics’ and ‘research responsibility’ but not what science is, what it demands from us or how it changes our view of us and the world. The well-trained but uneducated scientist now dominates the scene.”

Schatz mentions the fact that “at least two-thirds of all biomedical research cannot be reproduced”. He derides “meaningless quantification” of university rankings, individual citation frequencies and impact factors.

He also believes that peer review is in crisis. “Science needs competition, but competition has become so fierce that many fields of science now resemble war zones.”

Read the essay on the website of Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology or download the pdf.

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