What, exactly, is the point of science, in your opinion? To develop new, greater technologies for the betterment of the world? To unlock the universe's secrets, and with them create opportunities for mankind? Or is it just another useless aspect of day-to-day life? My personal opinion is that it is an incredible tool to probe how the world works. By doing this, one's abilities are extended to unimaginable heights. Take the example of Apple and its (frankly amazing) product line. It is built off of generations of scientific research and development, from microchips to LCD screens to person-computer interaction. Thus, any investment in technology will eventually loop back to the common person.
to understand yes and no yes and no the simple comprehension of time, was practically science so people knew when to plant crops yes and no. For example: the flourescent light has been around for over 100yrs but the patents were kept from production to sell more electricity and incandescent light bulbs (who is the prick that did that?) who bought ovonics? The point of science is to benefit 'life', not business!
To understand how the natural world works. Science is done for it's own sake. The other things are by-products of the search for how the world works.