And Social Imperative We are well past the point at which the knowledge required to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and communities can come solely from lone investigators trying to unlock nature's secrets, or from the offerings of any single discipline. The myth of the solitary scientist in search of truth is a romantic notion whose continued existence serves as a major barrier to progress in bringing the collective weight of the sciences to bear on the problems of humankind. And the idea that all scientific progress takes place within the boundaries of current disciplines is historically invalid and currently counterproductive.
But the need for development of sustained collaboration by interdisciplinary groups of active research scientists does not arise only from the urgency of social problems; it is intrinsic to the scientific process itself, and it becomes more acute as the accumulation of scientific knowledge continues. No one ...
