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State of the Union address: A yearly speech given by the U.S. president to Congress and the people to tell them about important things that are affecting the country.—Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary

Every year the leaders of countries, corporations, and universities present their views of the current conditions of their respective institutions. Given the function of these statements, they are often a top-down view with a biased perspective designed to make their current administrations look good.

There is no such annual report on science. This book is a report on the state of science from a practicing scientist, a view from the trenches. It is not meant to be a top-down view, nor is it meant to make anyone look good or bad.

I have written this book because science is not the same as it was in the first 20–25 years of my career. The way science is done, funded, and disseminated is evolving. At the same time, science is being politicized, and the public’s trust in science is being undermined. Yet science remains the engine of our economy and is responsible for our improved well-being. And perhaps now more than ever before, it is at the cusp of altering the most fundamental aspects of our daily lives.