big science and the transits of venus 133
burden of fundamental discovery for us, that universities would carry it as a
byproduct of education, and that our men of great benevolence would oc-
casionally endow a Smithsonian or a Carnegie Institution or a Rockefeller
Institute” (Greenberg 1967 , 52 ). Hoover aptly describes the confluence of
domestic and international market failures that resulted in suboptimal
levels of funding.
Conspicuous consumption provides a possible solution to the collective
action problem by focusing on prestige externalities. If actors gain inter-
national prestige by engaging in expensive and conspicuous endeavors,
then we are no longer dealing with a question of a pure collective good:
“More than curiosity or altruism or even profit, what drives discovery is
the spirit of competition.... The prospect of personal glory or national
prestige propels us to risk reputation, capital and even our lives to get
there first” (Safire 2004 ). The prestige impetus, according to this argu-
ment, is strong enough to overcome the collective action problem. Con-
sequently, actors who fund Big Science generate both collective goods, in
the form of scientific knowledge, and private goods, in the form of status
and prestige.^9 In fact, the collective-good quality of science emphasizes
the voluntary burden that is accepted by the funder. The decision not to
free ride enhances the costliness and therefore the credibility of the sig-
nal. The ability to solve a market failure and provide the collective good
altruistically is in itself a source of prestige. Zabusky’s ( 1995 , 229 ) analysis
of the European space program homes in on this connection between pro-
sociality, Big Science, and prestige.
For Europe to succeed in its bid for superpower status, it is not enough simply
to participate in a space agency that brings pragmatic rewards; the region must
demonstrate its ability to compete in this (apparently) altruistic endeavor as
well, supporting science research that is perceived as being good for humankind,
and not just for the particular economic interests of sponsoring governments.