Cycles of invention and discovery : rethinking the endless frontier /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Narayanamurti, Venkatesh, 1939- author.
Imprint:Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2016.
©2016
Description:1 online resource (170 pages) : illustrations
Language:English
Subject:
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12016996
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:Odumosu, Toluwalogo, 1979- author.
ISBN:9780674974135
0674974131
9780674967960
0674967968
0674974158
9780674974159
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed October 13, 2016).
Summary:This book argues that the standard categories of research as "basic" or "applied" have become a hindrance to the actual practice of research. The historical understanding of the basic vs. applied dichotomy is contrasted with the perspectives and lived experiences of researchers in various institutions. Using Nobel Prize-winning work as examples, the book explores the daily micro-practices of research and shows how the distinction of "basic" and "applied" quickly loses salience when one pays attention to the actual practice of research. The book offers an alternative view of the research process that sees the processes of discovery and invention as two sides of the same coin. By considering research as an integrative process that can lead to inventions and/or discoveries, this book provides a new model for understanding the practice of research.--
Other form:Print version: Narayanamurti, Venkatesh, 1939- Cycles of invention and discovery. Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2016 9780674967960 0674967968
Review by Choice Review

Narayanamurti (technology and public policy, Harvard) and Odumosu (science, technology, and society; and electrical and computer engineering, Univ. of Virginia) pose a policy argument for moving "basic and applied" research away from individual research cycles into a more cooperative "invention and discovery" cycle. The authors discuss how from the end of World War II to the present, government funding agencies have typically "pitted" basic and applied research against each other for limited resources, forcing management to police grant applications and the use of funds to comply with the agencies' dictates. In studying Nobel Prize-winning corporate research and academic facilities (particularly Bell Labs and engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara), several common cultural practices contributing to their successes are noted: hiring for excellence; fostering the exchange of communication and ideas by locating offices and labs of those engaged in discovery within the same hallway as those involved with invention; major investments in infrastructure, such as a communal cafeteria and recreational facilities for further interaction; and avoiding the linear practice of research leading to development by encouraging and arranging for personnel interactions. This will serve as an important book for members of Congress, government agencies, research facility managers, and academic institutions that may hold influence over funding resources. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. --Leilani A. Hall, California State University, Sacramento

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review