Commercializing science: nineteenth- and twentieth-century academic scientists as consultants, patentees, and entrepreneurs

• Published in: History and technology Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 4 - 22
• Main Authors: Mercelis, Joris, Galvez-Behar, Gabriel, Guagnini, Anna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 02.01.2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Subjects: 19th century; 20th century; academic consulting; academic entrepreneurship; academic patenting; Academic staff; Biologists; Commercialization; Consultants; Consulting; Economics and Finance; Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; History; History, Philosophy and Sociology of Sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences; Markets; Patenting; Physicists; Prospects; regimes of knowledge production and diffusion; Science commercialization; Science history; Scientists; Teachers; Teaching; Technology transfer; Trade; academic entrepreneurship; academic patenting; Science commercialization; regimes of knowledge production and diffusion; academic consulting
• ISSN: 0734-1512; 1477-2620
• DOI: 10.1080/07341512.2017.1342308

The collection of essays introduced in this article contributes to the debate on the commercialization of academic science by shifting the focus from institutional developments meant to foster university technology transfer to the actions of individual scientists. Instead of searching for the origins of the 'entrepreneurial university,' this special issue examines the personal involvement of academic physicists, engineers, photographic scientists, and molecular biologists in three types of commercial activity: consulting, patenting, and full-blown business entrepreneurship. The authors investigate how this diverse group of teachers and researchers perceived their institutional and professional environments, their career prospects, the commercial value of their knowledge and reputation, and their ability to exploit these assets. By documenting academic scientists' response to market opportunities, the articles suggest that, already in the decades around 1900, commercial work was widespread and, in some cases, integral to academics' teaching and research activity.