The role of discovery and invention in advancing natural science
10.3760/cma.j.issn.0253-2352.2021.03.101
- VernacularTitle:发现与发明对自然科学的推进作用
- Author:
Yingze ZHANG
- From:
Chinese Journal of Orthopaedics
2021;41(3):133-136
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Continual discoveries and inventions are the only way for the development of natural science. However, there has been controversy about either of which is more important than the other one. From the perspective of natural science, the present article compares the promoting effects of scientific discoveries versus technical inventions on natural science from four aspects: the definition and relationship of discoveries and inventions, the scientific discoveries and technical inventions view of Nobel Prize, the process from discoveries to inventions in theory, and the ownership of discovery right and invention right. This study focuses on the characteristics of subjects on 334 Nobel Prizes in the field of natural science from 1901 to 2019. Further, most awards are given for the scientific discoveries in Physiology or Medicine field, which account for 90.9%. This outcome indicates that scientific discovery as the source of science is more favored by the natural science community, which is in line with the general goal of the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. We hope that the majority of natural science researchers, during the process of promoting the development of natural science in China, should not only pay attention to the original discoveries of the "source of water", but also discover some things with spirit of questioning. The researchers should have the courage to break the inherent thinking and have the courage and patience to to discover the fundamental theory.
