Comment by crabbone
15 hours ago
Science funding was different back then. It was a rich men hobby, something done for amusement or to impress other rich men.
Today, science funding comes out of the tax collected from everyone. The taxpayers want an explanation for how their money is spent. It could be, of course, vanity, just like it was before (taxpayer money is spent on sporting events, for example because people root for the athletes who represent them)... but, maybe there's a better way?
> Science funding was different back then. It was a rich men hobby, something done for amusement or to impress other rich men.
This is not the full story, but fits today's cartoon history caricature. In reality, there were also salaried employees who were teaching or working on developing practical applications, there were church fundings, the universities like Göttingen etc. Not all were particularly rich, Euler came from a modest background etc.