The seven ages of science. 7/7 Age of now.

Radio documentary presented by Lisa Jardine who traces the evolution of scientific endeavour in Britain over the last four centuries. The episode begins with a recap of previous programmes in the series and how their themes have led to today's science. Physicist, Athene Donald, talks about public funding in academic science but feels that science is still not necessarily part of society. Others, such as computer scientist, Wendy Hall, think that this is beginning to change. Lisa Jardine asks various scientists what they think is driving science in the 21st century. Physics professor, Jon Butterworth, who has worked at CERN, suggests scientists are becoming more aware that they are working within society. Scientist, John Krebs, tackles problems defined by society, such as ecology, and talks about fashions in science. Physicist, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, wonders where authority in science lies - whether it's in the data, with the funder, the publisher of research, or a scientist's peer group. CERN is seen as a good example of the way various unique geo-political aspects came together to build a European nuclear physics laboratory. Jon Butterworth, then Lisa Jardine, speak about this and the research it has led to. President of the Royal Society, Paul Nurse, suggests these circumstances were at their peak during the Cold War years but that now science is more wide ranging and funded differently. Athene Donald continues this, and talks about science funding and research. Paul Nurse mentions that whilst there is still government support, industry supports science less. He considers that industrial leaders of the past were more connected to scientific endeavour and its uses than those today. Athene Donald feels there is a lack of vision in industry and finance, because funders often want guaranteed returns and short-term profits. However, Lisa Jardine points out improvements in sectors such as the biomedical sciences with charities often contributing significantly. The Wellcome Trust is mentioned along with its annual medical research budget of around £600 million a year, and how the philanthropic funding of biomedicine can help to create diversity in funding. She considers the Human Genome Project (funded by the Wellcome Trust) to be a good example of publicly funded research and mentions the race between the publicly funded laboratories here in Britain, and privately funded ones in America, to map the human genome. Both scientists involved, Jon Sulster and Craig Venter each defended their visions of science - for the public good, and for private profit. Paul Nurse suggests the essence of the age of now is big data and information which can be analysed. Wendy Hall talks about how computing has changed science through data storage and analysis. John Krebs considers crowd-sourcing in ecology and Athene Donald talks about 'citizen science' and the public enthusiasm for astronomy. Wendy Hall talks further about the impact of personal computing. The programme ends with a discussion on the increasing popularity of science and the desire for big questions to be resolved.