edited by Nathan Rosenberg (Stanford University, USA)

Table of Contents (44k)
Chapter 1: Introduction (165k)

About the Author

Nathan Rosenberg is the Fairleigh S.Dickinson, Jr. Professor of Public Policy in the Department of Economics at Stanford University. His research interests focus on the economics of technological change, with special attention paid to the role played by scientific research in shaping the rate and direction of technological change. Professor Rosenberg's books include Perspectives on Technology, Inside the Black Box, Technology and the Pursuit of Economic Growth, How the West Grew Rich and The Emergence of Economic Ideas.

Science and technology have become increasingly intertwined in the twentieth century. However, little attention has been paid to the forces that have brought about this condition. Indeed, many scholars have taken it simply for granted that causality always runs from science to technology. In this groundbreaking book, Rosenberg's research suggests that history and extensive empirical evidence lead to a reality that is far more complex as well as far more interesting. Here, Rosenberg's papers explore a wide range of pertinent issues, especially those connected with the innovative process, including the realms of electric power, electronics, chemicals, aircraft, medicine, instrumentation and, in particular, higher education and the organization of research activities.

• The Commercial Exploitation of Science by American Industry
• Academic Entrepreneurship
• The Economic Impact of Scientific Instrumentation Developed in Academic Laboratories
• Economic Development and the Transfer of Technology: Some Historical Perspectives
• A General: Purpose Technology at Work: The Corliss Steam Engine in the Late Nineteenth-Century United States (with Manuel Trajtenberg)
• The Role of Electricity in Industrial Development
• Improvement Upon Improvement: Long After Innovation
• Innovation and the Chain-Linked Model (with Stephen J Kline)
• Endogenous Forces in Twentieth Century America
• Why Do Firms Do Basic Research (with Their Own Money)?
• From the Scalpel to the Scope: Endoscopic Innovations in Gastroenterology, Gynecology, and Surgery (with Annetine C Gelijns)
• Capturing the Unexpected Benefits of Medical Research (with Annetine C Gelijns and Alan Moskowitz)
• Some Critical Episodes in the Progress of Medical Innovation: An Anglo-American Perspective
• Chemical Engineering as a General Purpose Technology
• Technological Change in Chemicals: The Role of University–Industry Relations
• Economic Experiments
• Aeronautical Engineering
• Schumpeter and History