Heroic theory of invention and scientific development
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The heroic theory of invention and scientific development is the view that the principal authors of inventions and scientific discoveries are unique heroic individuals—i.e., "great scientists" or "geniuses".{{Cite journal|last=Epstein|first=Ralph C.|date=1926|title=Industrial Invention: Heroic, or Systematic?|journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics|volume=40|issue=2|pages=232–272|doi=10.2307/1884619|issn=0033-5533|jstor=1884619}}
Competing hypothesis
A competing hypothesis (that of multiple discovery) is that most inventions and scientific discoveries are made independently and simultaneously by multiple inventors and scientists.
The multiple-discovery hypothesis may be most patently exemplified in the evolution of mathematics, since mathematical knowledge is highly unified and any advances need, as a general rule, to be built from previously established results through a process of deduction. Thus, the development of infinitesimal calculus into a systematic discipline did not occur until the development of analytic geometry, the former being credited to both Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz, and the latter to both René Descartes and Pierre de Fermat.
See also
References
Further reading
- Epstein, Ralph C. 1926. "Industrial Invention: Heroic, or Systematic?" The Quarterly Journal of Economics 40(2):232–72. {{JSTOR|1884619}}. {{doi|10.2307/1884619}}.
- Johansson, Frans. 2004. The Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation. US: Harvard Business School Press. {{ISBN|1-4221-0282-3}}.
- Merton, Robert K. 1957. "Priorities in Scientific Discovery: A Chapter in the Sociology of Science." American Sociological Review 22(6):635–59. {{JSTOR|2089193}}. {{doi|10.2307/2089193}}.
- —— 1961. "Singletons and Multiples in Scientific Discovery: A Chapter in the Sociology of Science." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 105(5):470–86. {{JSTOR|985546}}
- Shireman, William K. 1999. "Business strategies for sustainable profits: systems thinking in practice." Systems Research and Behavioral Science 16(5):453–62. {{doi|10.1002/(SICI)1099-1743(199909/10)16:5<453::AID-SRES336>3.0.CO;2-9}}.
- Turney, Peter. 15 January 2007. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080512050604/http://apperceptual.wordpress.com/2007/01/15/the-heroic-theory-of-scientific-development/ The Heroic Theory of Scientific Development]." Apperceptual.
External links
- http://www.philsci.com/book2-2.htm
- http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/12/080512fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all
Category:Discovery and invention controversies
Category:History of scientific method
{{science-philo-stub}}{{Historiography}}