What is basic science and what is it good for?

Basic science is, above all, a stupid word. It sounds like those onions we sliced in 8th grade. And if people don�t mistake �basic� for �everybody knows,� they might think instead it means �foundational,� that is, dedicated to questioning the present paradigms. But that�s not what the word refers to.
Basic science refers to research which is not pursued with the aim of producing new