Historians Foretell Our Demise as a Scientific Superpower

Given the grim economic climate and even grimmer forecasts for the future, it's not hard to predict that the U.S. will lose its status as the world's preeminent superpower. But will we fall behind in science as well? J. Rogers Hollingsworth, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, thinks so. He and a group of historians and sociologists think that the country's diminishing lead over other nations in science investment and research output mirrors the downfall of preceding science juggernauts like France, Germany and Britain. History, they say, is primed to repeat itself. In an essay in this week's issue of Nature, (subscription required) Hollingsworth and his co-authors argue that recent huge investments by the EU, China, Japan, Russia and India have leveled the international playing field in the sciences, leaving the U.S. teetering on the brink of losing the status it's held since the second World War. China ...