Whenever I read about scientists from that era (acknowledging it is very broad), the account of their discoveries makes it seem as though they had so much intellectual freedom. (Darwin, Robert Brown, Maxwell, Boltzmann, the Curies, even Einstein?) Since at least some of them were experimentalists, it’s not like carrying their research was free, so they must have been funded somehow. What were the constraints on that funding? Was the funding attached to a researcher or rather a research project?
My impression of today’s Academia is that the vast majority of funding goes to research projects vs researchers, and it certainly does affect intellectual freedom.
Maybe I’m completely wrong in my impressions, but I was curious to hear about historians’ perspective on the evolution of funding constraints in Academia, with a specific emphasis on the physical/life sciences.
Short answer:
The examples you cite are mostly of investigators with relatively little in the way of costs, at least early on. Other investigators required much more resources. As to whether the funding was linked to the project or the investigator, that's really a case by case question-- you'll find examples of each. Some scientists had absolute freedom-- needed no cash, thought their great thoughts as they pleased. Others had to suck up to funders.
Discussion:
Einstein, for example, made use of experimental data from others, but did nearly all of his work with a paper and pencil . . . during his annus mirabilis of 1905, he was working as a patent clerk in Switzerland.
The Curies were experimentalists, but for their early work supported themselves with teaching-- they did much of their work with quite modest resources. Only much later in the 1920s did Marie Curie tour the US to raise money for her "Radium Institute", by which time their important scientific work had been done.
We do have examples of "big science" stretching back to the Renaissance, projects requiring the support of governments and/or very wealthy patrons.
Tycho Brahe's observatory at Uraniborg is a frequently cited example of an expensive scientific/technical project of the early modern era. Tycho's project, including dozens of assistants, manufacture of custom instrumentation was made possible by the financial and political support of Peter Oxe, Governor of Copenhagen and the Lord High Steward, and the King Frederick II. Tycho himself came from a politically powerful and wealthy family-- two of his brothers (and one of his brother in laws) were in the Rigsråd, the governing council. Tycho's work was made possible by his political connections, and this patronage substantially affected choices in his scholarly rhetoric.
When the King died in 1588 and was succeeded by his son, Christian IV, Tycho's resources declined-- he eventually became the imperial mathematician to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II, but never again had the resources to do what he did at Uraniborg.
Tycho and others in their position were effectively courtiers, creatures of the King. Tycho complains of the burdens of court life, and that would be the lot of anyone in such position. We have more than a few accounts from the early modern period of "scientific duels" at princely courts, disputes between courtiers of primacy of their discipline or their work. Such disputes might have scientific content, might be rivalry for the favor of a king without any scientific issue, or might be some combination of the two.
Another category of "big science" requiring government subsidy of the age was related to exploration. European imperial powers sent expeditions around the world, seeking trade, colonies, and knowledge. In the 18th century in particular, you find France and England spending large amounts of money to send out expeditions to bring back economically valuable plants. Both nations maintain botanical gardens -- indeed, the British have a network of botanical gardens around the empire. The celebrated Captain Bligh -- he of Bounty fame-- is on just such a mission, in this case to transport breadfruits to the Indies from the South Pacific. Its a measure of the importance of this mission that after the mutiny, Bligh is equipped with a second vessel, and is sent out again-- this time he completes the mission successfully, the origin of breadfruit in the Caribbean.
As these examples demonstrate -- in some cases the funding was attached to a particular person who impressed: Tycho's funding was about his relationship with key people, when he fell out of favor, Christian IV didn't continue funding Uraniborg at anything like the level that his father had done. In other cases, though, like the British interest in plants-- the individual mattered less. We can identify individuals with prestige at the time, like say Joseph Banks-- but if he'd died on an adventure, the British would have likely funded someone else. And in yet other cases -- very little money was required in the first place.
So the answer is: "it depends on who you're asking about"
Sources:
Stokes, Donald E. "Pasteur's Quadrant" Brookings Institution Press:1997 -- a book that deserves to be better known, a political scientist's inquiry into the nature of state support for science and technology.
Victor E. Thoren, The Lord of Uraniborg: A Biography of Tycho Brahe, (Cambridge, 1990).
Christianson, J. R., and Tycho Brahe. “Tycho Brahe's German Treatise on the Comet of 1577: A Study in Science and Politics.” Isis, vol. 70, no. 1, 1979, pp. 110–140.
Paolo Palladino, and Michael Worboys. “Science and Imperialism.” Isis, vol. 84, no. 1, 1993, pp. 91–102.
Andersen, Casper, et al. “The Money Trail: A New Historiography for Networks, Patronage, and Scientific Careers.” Isis, vol. 103, no. 2, 2012, pp. 310–315.
Monica Azzolini. “Anatomy of a Dispute: Leonardo, Pacioli and Scientific Courtly Entertainment in Renaissance Milan.” Early Science and Medicine, vol. 9, no. 2, 2004, pp. 115–135.