Is America’s age of discovery over?

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:00:00 +0000

Not so long ago, the core skill of the United States was new industry creation. And at the same time — not coincidentally — the country boasted the world’s largest and fastest-growing economy. During the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, scientific and technological breakthroughs from the United States produced a steady stream of extraordinary new industries and products. These industries stimulated consumer demand and, by providing high-paying jobs, enabled it.

That stream of basic discoveries was produced not mainly by self-funded geniuses in backyard garages but rather by a quite unusual and focused machine for discovery and innovation — a network of institutions deliberately founded, organized, and run for the purpose of fueling scientific and technological insight. Including such legendary institutions as Bell Labs, Xerox PARC, RCA Laboratories, DARPA, and others, this network consisted of public, private, nonprofit, and for-profit efforts working in combination. Programs with clear commercial potential were supported alongside efforts at “pure science,” with the two streams resonating with and feeding off each other. This discovery and innovation machine existed because of a business and political culture that supported invention independent of immediate practical applications, as being “good for the country.”

Salon.com > Karl Weber

Is America’s age of discovery over?