4 ms·

Unless a person needs specialized equipment or materials... That is a pretty huge caveat. If you're lucky enough to be a mathematician, that's easy to say. If

Unless a person needs specialized equipment or materials... That is a pretty huge caveat. If you're lucky enough to be a mathematician, that's easy to say. If you're a molecular biologist... brace yourself for the sticker shock. And it depends on your goals. If your goal is to enlighten yourself, you don't need to be an academic: you just need a decent library that gets all the Nature journals, a pile of textbooks, a local university full of grad students that like to talk about their work, and time. But if your goal is to do original work, you've got bigger financial problems.

yters 19y ago
Do you know why this is the case? The most ground breaking science has been relatively inexpensive. Has all the low hanging fruit already been picked? Anyways, in today's world, I see the real need lying in integration, not more and more specialized research. I think this is reflected in the discouraging stories above.
- asciilifeform 19y ago
  > Do you know why this is the case? Open a lab equipment catalog. What do you suppose the availability of grant money to most purchasers does to the prices? Also don't forget that the delivery of anything chemistry-related to a private residence is all but banned under American law.