Article ID: CBB349840744

Ivory towers? The commercial activity of British professors of engineering and physics, 1880–1914 (2017)

unapi

Guagnini, Anna (Author)


History and Technology
Volume: 33
Issue: 1
Pages: 70-108


Publication Date: 2017
Edition Details: Special Issue: Commercializing Science: Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Academic Scientists as Consultants, Patentees, and Entrepreneurs
Language: English

The involvement of British academic scientists in commercial work has been often discussed by historians of science and technology. However a systematic study of this activity is still lacking. Focussing on the period 1880 to 1914, I examine the engagement in consulting, patenting and entrepreneurial initiatives of a segment of that community, namely engineering and physics professors. I discuss the institutional context in which it occurred and their motivations. The survey highlights that the majority of the engineering professors examined were involved in consulting and patenting, and a significant number of them pursued also entrepreneurial activities. As for the physics professors, only a few followed the example of their engineering colleagues, but did so vigorously. I argue that far from being reluctantly brought into the market for knowledge, the engineering as well as the physics professors who engaged these extra-academic activities eagerly sought to partake in the commercialization of the products of their scientific work.

...More
Included in

Article Joris Mercelis; Gabriel Galvez-Behar; Anna Guagnini (2017) Introduction: Commercializing science: nineteenth- and twentieth-century academic scientists as consultants, patentees, and entrepreneurs. History and Technology (pp. 4-22). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB349840744/

Similar Citations

Article Baldini, Nicola; Fini, Riccardo; Grimaldi, Rosa; Sobrero, Maurizio; (2014)
Organisational Change and the Institutionalisation of University Patenting Activity in Italy (/isis/citation/CBB001420874/)

Article Joris Mercelis; Gabriel Galvez-Behar; Anna Guagnini; (2017)
Introduction: Commercializing science: nineteenth- and twentieth-century academic scientists as consultants, patentees, and entrepreneurs (/isis/citation/CBB198451132/)

Chapter Umberto Cugini; Giancarlo Genta; (2014)
Progettazione di macchine (/isis/citation/CBB607521051/)

Article Brian Dick; Mark Jones; (2017)
The commercialization of molecular biology: Walter Gilbert and the Biogen startup (/isis/citation/CBB042478054/)

Article Kaiserfeld, Thomas; (2013)
Why New Hybrid Organizations Are Formed: Historical Perspectives on Epistemic and Academic Drift (/isis/citation/CBB001420851/)

Book Virginio Cantoni; Vittorio Marchis; Edoardo Rovida; (2014)
Storia della Meccanica (/isis/citation/CBB405054620/)

Book Lisa Haushofer; (2022)
Wonder Foods: The Science and Commerce of Nutrition (/isis/citation/CBB755765560/)

Book Anja Timmermann; (2014)
Indigo. Die Analyse eine ökonomischen Wissensbestandes im 18. Jahrhundert (/isis/citation/CBB633173780/)

Book Caterina Toschi; (2018)
L'idioma Olivetti 1952–1979 (/isis/citation/CBB135780462/)

Article Collier, Alan J.; (2008)
Identifying Superior Performance Factors Relevant to Australian University TTOs (/isis/citation/CBB794808372/)

Article Maryna Gutnyk; Elena Tverytnykova; Volodymyr Sklyar; (2019)
Commercialization of Scientific Activity at a Higher Technical School of East Ukraine in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century (/isis/citation/CBB227277234/)

Book Tamson Pietsch; (2015)
Empire of Scholars: Universities, Networks and the British Academic World, 1850-1939 (/isis/citation/CBB832011817/)

Chapter Buchanan, Angus; (2008)
University Science and Technology in Bath (/isis/citation/CBB001022823/)

Authors & Contributors
Mercelis, Joris
Cugini, Umberto
Tverytnykova, Elena
Gutnyk, Maryna
Collier, Alan J.
Anja Timmermann
Concepts
Universities and colleges
Commercialization
Industry
Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship
Technology
Engineering
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
21st century
20th century, early
18th century
Early modern
Places
Great Britain
Italy
Germany
Bath (England)
Birmingham (England)
Ukraine
Institutions
Technische Hochschule Berlin Charlottenburg
Biogen, Inc.
Olivetti S.p.A (Firm)
Bath University
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment