Question

Some people argue that with the limited money we have available, we should NOT fund pure research projects in physics like exploring the properties of ‘dark matter’ and determining whether it exists. Describe how Maxwell’s exploration of the relationships between electric and magnetic fields could be used as a rationale for funding ‘dark matter’ research.

Answer 1

Funding in fundamental physics has always been fruitful to humanity because of the indirect effects it has, Maxwell's equations are one such example. Maxwell's equations have had perhaps the biggest impact on the modern understanding of physics and it had huge applications in technology. When Maxwell wrote down his four equation no one knew one day these would help us warm our food in the oven or revolutionize our understanding of optics  that helped us make better telescope. Maxwell's used his equation to show that Light is an electromagnetic wave having electric and magnetic field oscillating perpendicular to each other and to the direction of propagation. This realization that light is an EM wave optics suddenly became physics. Almost every thing we see around us has a direct or indirect effect of Maxwell's view of the world. So funding fundamental physics is a boon for humanity because we've always stumbled upon something that revolutionized what we know about reality and understanding dark matter should be no different, it may enhance our current knowledge of understanding of gravity.