“Useless Knowledge”

Charles Kolb, a Senior Public Policy Executive and contributor for Huffington Post, writes of the realities of waning American innovation and productivity, along with the great decline of basic research funding. With reference to the Usefulness of Useless Knowledge (Princeton University Press, March 2017) by founding IAS Director Abraham Flexner with a companion essay by current IAS Director Robbert Dijkgraaf, Kolb writes: “A lot more 'useless knowledge' pursued by today’s public and private sectors will ensure that today’s idealistic dreams become tomorrow’s engines of progress, dynamism, and vibrant economic growth.”