AlexL Posted December 15, 2006 Report Share Posted December 15, 2006 In a debate I am having with a colleague, I claimed that most of the increase in the standard of living from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution to the one we enjoy today is due to privately funded research. Is his position defensible? Can anyone point me to references on the subject? Thanks Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidOdden Posted December 16, 2006 Report Share Posted December 16, 2006 I can at least suggest a method: identify those facts most influential in our standard of living (various forms of power, locomotion, manufacturing methods, food production, medicine), and find out how they came about. For instance, the transistor, the x-ray machine.... The only era when you might face a problem would be the past 50 years or so, when the government decided to be the national benefactor and controller of science. The problem that you'll face is being able to identify the portion of industrial and academic research payed for by government grants when you have mixed funding; I strongly doubt that there is a reliable method of separating the two these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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