What kinds of technology benefit most from a scientific foundation to draw on? In this podcast I look at some papers suggesting it's especially helpful in unfamiliar domains. Places where the inventor is inexperienced, or the terrain especially treacherous.
This is podcast is an audio readthrough of the (initial version of the) article "Science as a map of unfamiliar terrain" published on New Things Under the Sun.
Articles mentioned:
Arts, Sam, and Lee Fleming. 2018. Paradise of Novelty - or Loss of Human Capital? Exploring New Fields and Inventive Output. Organization Science 29(6): 1074-1092. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2018.1216
Kneeland, Madeline K., Melissa A. Schilling, and Barak S. Aharonson. 2020. Exploring Uncharted Territory: Knowledge Search Processes in the Origination of Outlier Innovation. Organization Science 31(3): 535-557. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2019.1328
Fleming, Lee, and Olav Sorenson. 2004. Science as a map in technological search. Strategic Management Journal 25(8-9): 909-928. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.384
Arora, Ashish, Sharon Belenzon, and Jungkyu Suh. 2021. Science and the Market for Technology. NBER Working Paper 28534. https://doi.org/10.3386/w28534