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Tearing down disciplinary barriers

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“He who understands nothing but chemistry does not truly understand chemistry either”. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799)

Abstract

Profesor Hannes Alfvén's life-long battle against scientific narrow-mindedness and parochial approaches to the solution of scientific problems is well known and deeply appreciated by this author. In this article the new interdisciplinary trends in science are critically examined and the psychological impacts of crumbling disciplinary barriers on the participating scientists are analyzed. Several examples of interdisciplinary research programs are discussed and some thoughts on the structural reform of scientific organizations, agencies, and universities needed to face these trends are given.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

    Juan G. Roederer

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  1. Juan G. Roederer
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Paper dedicated to Professor Hannes Alfvén on the occasion of his 80th birthday, 30 May 1988.

Reprinted with permission from EOS, American Geophysical Union.

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Roederer, J.G. Tearing down disciplinary barriers. Astrophys Space Sci 144, 659–667 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00793211

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00793211

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