In general I think you're right. I forget who said this and I'm going to get it horribly wrong but if you throw enough money into developing a car, you'll end up with a new and improved car with whatever mod cons come with such development; but it's still a car. In other words, practically nothing has been added to the sum of human knowledge, apart from novel forms of materials technology or improvements in aerodynamics etc. As you say, unless there is a saleable product at the end of it, research is made out to be little more than an extravagance. You only need to glance at the tabloid media to get a revealing glimpse into how science is viewed by, or at least sold to, the masses; idioms such as "boffins" and "eggheads" are a massive clue.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
