The funds that fueled chemistry

Understanding molecules and atoms, and how they can be manipulated, has always taken serious resources and investment. That’s true whether the goal has been to find the best metal alloy for a battle-ready sword in the Middle Ages or to construct a nanomaterial to coat the glass on your new smartphone. It’s also true for isolating food additives or developing new drugs. Funding for science research has grown, crashed, rebuilt, and expanded to new places as the concentration of opportunities and priorities—and of deep pockets—has continuously moved and rebalanced:Rich kings with an obsession.Governments driven to replace goods they once acquired through trade with a no-longer-friendly regime.Businesses developing potentially world-changing products.This graphical exploration highlights several key points from history when those shifts have responded to and influenced the path of both science and humanity.