Science Makes the U.S. a Great Nation

History tells us what happens when great nations attack science

- BY PAUL M. SUTTER

ONE OF HISTORY'S dark jokes is that the Roman Empire, for all its vaunted accomplishments, made only a single great “contribution” to science: the killing of Archimedes. Today the U.S. risks suffering the same kind of shame.

In 212 B.C.E. the Romans sacked the Greek city of Syracuse after a prolonged siege, and a Roman soldier killed Archimedes, then the greatest living mathematician, physicist and engineer—and one of the greatest minds of all time. Exact accounts vary, but according to one, Archimedes was engrossed in sketching a problem in sand when his murderer arrived, sword drawn. Covering his work, the mathematician said, “I beg of you, do not disturb this.” In response, the soldier struck down the 72-year-old man.

American science now faces its own sharpened edge. The Trump administration stands with its sword drawn. It’s choking our universities. It’s stamping out the free flow of ideas. It’s cutting funding to basic science. It’s ready to make the killing blow, all in the name of making America great again.

Despite declines in its favorability since the COVID pandemic, science remains one of the most trusted and best-regarded institutions in the U.S. And although modern science has many flaws, it is one of those few things we can point to as a society and say this, this, is what already makes us great.

Our technological and scientific prowess is the envy of the world, unmatched across the globe and indeed throughout human history. No other country, no other culture, no other civilization has matched what the U.S. has poured into fundamental research in the years since World War II.