Tag Archives: Science the Endless Frontier

Bayh-Dole in another simple diagram

Bayh-Dole conflates three distinct forms of federal contracting for research and then moves one form–university-hosted research–into the category of another, procurement from commercial firms. Here’s the diagram:   The effect of Bayh-Dole is depicted by the blue arrows. The box … Continue reading

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What should the federal government do with patents it issues to itself? Part 3

Here is one of the most provocative parts of Vannevar Bush’s Science the Endless Frontier: Science Is a Proper Concern of Government It has been basic United States policy that Government should foster the opening of new frontiers. It opened … Continue reading

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Vannevar Bush’s seductive lie

At The New Atlantis, Dan Sarewitz has published an interesting article, “Saving Science.” While there’s plenty to discuss regarding his major theme, that scientists “must come out of the lab into the real world,” here I’d like to deal with a … Continue reading

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A Brief History of University Patent Policies

[Updated May 2018] American University Patent Policies:  A Brief History 1900-1924 Universities have no formal policy on patents, and follow defaults provided by law, addressing issues as they arise. 1912 University of California professor Frederick Cottrell forms non-profit Research Corporation … Continue reading

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The Entrepreunial Research University

Three narratives have come together to support the transformation of American university innovation policy from one of diversity and institutional support to one of monopoly institutional control of research inventions, heralded as the best thing for the country. All the … Continue reading

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Hope of Better Things

Vannevar Bush (1949) [emphasis added]: The real reason we made such great progress was not bright inventors or clever gadgets.  It was the fact that we had thousands of men who understood the underlying science in the field, who skillfully … Continue reading

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