The Nature of Scientific Innovation, Volume I: Processes, Means and Impact

Innovation is a major driver of social, economic and environmental change and is researched extensively by academics from disciplines as diverse as, business, engineering, economics, sociology and psychology. On the whole, each discipline pursues its own pathway to understanding without an interdisciplinary framework that links diverse research outputs. This partite structure creates a remove from the practical realities of entrepreneurship, and the innovators who operate and perceive innovation in its entirety. This book delivers insights and creates a different framework, one that includes terminologies and typologies, greater understanding of paradigmatic influences in science, needs vs wants and demand, impact and value of knowledge, publications and patents and economic benefits. It challenges current approaches to education, research, creativity and skills development, infrastructure, investment and policy.

This book addresses changes needed to better deliver innovation at a time when the world is desperate for solutions to global problems. It will be of interest to scholars and students of innovation from multiple disciplines, as well as practitioners, policymakers and all those with an interest in scientific innovation.

The first volume focuses on the processes, the means and the impact of scientific innovation. It highlights the way scientific research came to the fore as an instrument of government policy for economic growth, the way research is undertaken, the structures and processes involved, the values, biases and limitations associated with them, and why these matter for innovation.  Questions are asked about who innovation is for and whether value is being captured in ways that really matter, whether the systems are fit-for-purpose and how meaningful impact could be delivered to meet societal, economic and environmental needs and priorities.