Opinion: The crystal ball and basic research.

The author emphasises that predicting the pay-off of fundamental research is impossible. He notes that there is a considerable time lag between fundamental research and its applications. He mentions some discoveries by physicists that have revolutionised medicine and other fields such as X-ray by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, superconductivity by Kamerlingh Onnes, and the Laser by Charley Townes. He cites that these discoveries were initially not recognised as an important achievement.