pure, abstract science theoretical studies in math and physics that do not relate directly to the development of practical technologies.
sanction something, such as a moral principle or influence, that makes a rule of conduct or a law binding. Rearden begins to realize that the looters need some type of moral permission from Dagny and himself and that, more broadly, evil men require moral permission from their victims. What the exact nature of this sanction is, he doesn’t yet know.
