The most important aim of science should be to improve people’s lives. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Scientific developments are occurring at a great rate but some of them do not seem to be of help to people. In fact, sometimes scientific innovations are regretted by those who invented them.

This

essay will argue that science should never harm people but

scientists

should aim to

further

their understanding as much as to improve people’s

lives

. On the one hand, there is a strong argument that the public good should be the top priority for

scientists

. They are the ones who have the potential to make discoveries and invent things that can change the world. Electricity, modern medicine, telecommunications and the internet are just some of the scientific innovations that have changed

lives

for the better.

On the other hand

, sometimes

scientists

do research just in the hope of adding to their knowledge.

While

they should make absolutely sure that their experiments do no harm, they may not know until they have finished how their findings will be used and whether they will improve people’s

lives

. The scientist Nobel invented dynamite to help with mining, not knowing that it would one day be used in weapons, and the scientist who discovered the life-saving drug penicillin did so quite by chance.

Overall

, it seems that science should improve the

lives

of people and that ought to be one of its aims.

However

, knowledge and discovery are aims in themselves and are just as important for

scientists

. Sometimes scientist do not know how their scientific breakthroughs will be used until their work is done.