Scientometrics: I know what I am, what are you? Posted on 18 Jul 2010 by Tinker Ready Today’s Globe reports on the science of science. (Apologies to Pee Wee Herman- see below- and Samatha Bee for the headline.) Today, if you want to make a discovery in physics, it helps to be part of a 10,000-member team that runs a multibillion dollar atom smasher. It takes ever more money, more effort, and more people to find out new things. But until recently, no one actually tried to measure the increasing difficulty of discovery. It certainly seems to be getting harder, but how much harder? How fast does it change? This type of research, studying the science of science, is in fact a field of science itself, and is known as scientometrics. Scientometrics may sound self-absorbed, a kind of inside baseball for scientists, but it matters: We spend billions of dollars annually on research, and count on science to do such things as cure cancer and master space travel, so it’s good to know what really works. From Pee Wee’s Big Adventure Pee-wee: I wouldn’t sell my bike for all the money in the world. Not for a hundred million, trillion, billion dollars! Francis: Then you’re crazy! Pee-wee: I know you are but what am I? Francis: You’re a nerd! Pee-wee: I know you are but what am I? Francis: You’re an idiot! Pee-wee: I know you are but what am I? Pee-Wee, Francis: I know you are but what am I? I know you are but what am I? I know you are but what am I? Pee-wee: Infinity! Francis: No, I’m not. Francis, Pee-Wee: You are! No way! Knock it off! Cut it out! Francis: Shut up, Pee-wee!
