Not long ago, during a discussion with a Zoomer colleague about how to find research material, I realized that he had never experienced internet search back when it was good. I tried to explain how it used to be easier to find information from good-faith experts, but I don’t think I really got the point across. Let me try again.
With physics (speaking as someone in the field) I'd argue something else is going on. After table-top experiments and university-scale research programs were exhausted, physics has had to rely on larger and ever more specialized technology to learn one useful thing about the universe. Compare the rutherford scattering experiment to the LHC! So we really do need hordes of PhDs, engineers, and technicians to do anything and we actually still do not have enough people! The number of people that can do what Einstein did - path integrals and tensor algebra - is enormous but the next generation of mathematics must use that as a starting point for a decade of mathematical specialization.
Still academia has similar challenges with the new reality of physics research. What happens when the length of time to build the experiment is longer than the PhD? What happens when an experiment needs decades of experience in a minor technique and then that technique becomes obsolete? What happens when the science machine becomes so complicated that scientists end doing empirical analysis much like an economist or epidemiologist would? What happens is that academia publishes papers and funds grants that would not pass muster in yesteryears even when the amount of effort and competition that goes into them far exceeds traditional expectations.
Who is the 21st century’s most influential philosopher, so far?
Spot on.
Is there a particular obscure primary text you wish to see translated? I’d like to take a gander at it
With physics (speaking as someone in the field) I'd argue something else is going on. After table-top experiments and university-scale research programs were exhausted, physics has had to rely on larger and ever more specialized technology to learn one useful thing about the universe. Compare the rutherford scattering experiment to the LHC! So we really do need hordes of PhDs, engineers, and technicians to do anything and we actually still do not have enough people! The number of people that can do what Einstein did - path integrals and tensor algebra - is enormous but the next generation of mathematics must use that as a starting point for a decade of mathematical specialization.
Still academia has similar challenges with the new reality of physics research. What happens when the length of time to build the experiment is longer than the PhD? What happens when an experiment needs decades of experience in a minor technique and then that technique becomes obsolete? What happens when the science machine becomes so complicated that scientists end doing empirical analysis much like an economist or epidemiologist would? What happens is that academia publishes papers and funds grants that would not pass muster in yesteryears even when the amount of effort and competition that goes into them far exceeds traditional expectations.
A good piece that expands on (approximately) this thesis from 1995! is Odlyzko's http://www.dtc.umn.edu/~odlyzko/doc/decline.txt
Too many thoughts on this ...