I do not believe that the present flowering of science is due in the least to a real appreciation of the beauty and intellectual discipline of the subject. It is due simply to the fact that power, wealth and prestige can only be obtained by the correct application of science.

— Derek Barton, Some Reflections on the Present Status of Organic Chemistry (1963)

Address at the Mellon Institute's 50th anniversary celebrations, published in Science and Human Progress (1963).

Topics: science