Work

Corporations, Universities, and Instrumental Communities: Commercializing Probe Microscopy, 1981-1996

Year: 2006

Type: article

Abstract: Longstanding debates about the role of the university in national culture and the global economy have usually centered on one university, region, or discipline. I propose a new unit of analysis, the "instrumental community," i.e. a community dedicated to developing a particular class of instruments. Such communities span regions, firms, universities, and disciplines. The commercialization of scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy between 1981 and 1996 is a striking example of such a community. Analysis of the commercialization of STM and AFM contradicts the positions of both supporters and opponents of academic entrepreneurialism.

Source: Technology and Culture

DOI: 10.1353/tech.2006.0085

Author: Cyrus C. M. (Cyrus Cawas Maneck) Mody

Language: English

Topic: Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis

Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Science Foundation, Society for the History of Technology

OpenAlex ID: W2031069126

FWCI: 30.94

Cites: 66

Cited by: 94

Related to: 10