Research : A Manifesto

A short, bold, and timely history and defense of research in the humanities and sciences and its incalculable importance

If there were a single tool that could cure disease, improve the quality of human life, send people into outer space, and uncover vital riddles from the deepest past, wouldn’t we celebrate it as humanity’s greatest achievement? That tool exists—it’s called research, and it powers the modern world, channeling roughly $3 trillion a year to solve problems and answer questions across fields as distant as computer science and classics. Yet, for all its importance, research as a subject is seriously neglected—dangerously so today, when the priceless research structure built since World War II is under existential attack. In Research, Peter N. Miller offers a passionate, original, and eloquent history and defense of research.

Research is a history, but it is also a philosophical exploration of inquiry and creativity. Some elements of research go back to antiquity; others to the seventeenth century. Only in the nineteenth did it become itself a subject of reflection. And in the twentieth, it reached a preeminence that led to an informal compact between government and the university—an alliance that has now been shattered, producing enormous risks for the well-being of people and the planet.

Today, more than ever, we need to understand what research means and why it matters. Engaging and provocative, Research is essential reading for everyone working in the humanities and sciences—and all those who believe in the value of discovery.