Tag Archives: Vannevar Bush

The National Patent Planning Commission argument for government-created private patent monopolies, 3

The National Patent Planning Commission quotes administration officials repeating this same argument. Here’s the Under Secretary of Agriculture (1941): The commercial exploitation of new inventions requires, in many cases, the expenditure of large sums of money. In such a case, … 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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How Bayh-Dole went wrong and what might be done, 2

The nature of federal research contracts Let’s work through how Bayh-Dole might have been structured. We start with the nature of federal contracts. A federal contract is not quite like a conventional contract formed under state laws. The federal government … Continue reading

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The Bush Engine of Technology Innovation

Vannevar Bush argued that it was a proper role for the federal government to support scientific research. This proposition today is regarded as a truth that hardly needs justification. But in Science the Endless Frontier, Bush was not arguing for … Continue reading

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The beating of Vannevar Bush will continue until productivity improves

Apparently it is popular in science policy to think that Vannevar Bush failed to have insights worth pursuing when it comes to science policy. Dan Sarewitz calls him a liar. Venkatesh Narayahnamurti and Toluwalogo Odumosu blame him for a distinction between … Continue reading

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Was Vannevar Bush So Wrong?

Over at Science of Science Policy there’s more discussion of Vannevar Bush, this time attributing to Bush the “linear model” of innovation that asserts that basic research leads to discoveries that applied research then prepares for development into commercial products, … 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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Vannevar Bush and the Unexpected Model of Innovation

In Science and Technology Policy in the United States: Open Systems in Action, Sylvia Kraemer spends a section of a chapter discussing Vannevar Bush and Science the Endless Frontier. Kraemer agrees that Science the Endless Frontier is an important document in … Continue reading

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Bayh-Dole, the bureaucratic solution to massive federal funding of faculty research

Prior to 1912, university faculty generally did not seek patents. Cottrell at the University of California created Research Corporation to act as an external agent to present his and other faculty members’ inventions to industry. The Board of Research Corporation … Continue reading

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The Free Play of Free Intellects

The Bayh-Dole Act has been championed as a great turning point in the federal government’s management of inventions made by university faculty (for the most part) supported by federal money. The impression meant to be left with us is that … Continue reading

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