One thing I'm really interested in is the commercialization of applied science and its potential to increase the standard of living for humans. So like how, where (and why) the science is done, how innovations are brought to market, how entrepreneurs leverage existing tech to create new business models, and the role of capital at every step in the process.
You asked for resources and since I'm a teacher, I can't resist making reading recommendations :)
You mention Bell Labs a couple of times and one of my favorite books is The Idea Factory by Gerstner. More than just a simple history of Bell Labs it really gets into what made them so innovative. Just a great read as well. There is a book on Parc as well, Dealers of Lightning by Hiltzner, that is super-informative (though not quite as well written, in my opinion.)
The Vaclav Smil book you mention is excellent and American Genesis by Thomas Hughes is along those lines though perhaps a bit more thoughtful and a bit less expository.
You should check out Jason Crawford's Progress Forum stuff (https://progressforum.org/). He has a lot of the same interests and has been writing about them for a while.
OK, I'll stop there before I dump a whole syllabus on you.
Hi Sophie, you popped up randomly on my Twitter, and i like your article! Makes me think of two things. First, economist Brad DeLong came out with a huge economic history of the “long” 20th century. He makes a big deal about commercialization in the intro then peppers it throughout. Not a deep dive but a compelling story. You could try to find just the intro online, or check out his substack. The other idea comes from energy utilities. UtiltyDive recently published something from Morgan Stanley, who think batteries are gonna just be waaaaay more useful across economies as we build way more solar and wind. So I agree with your attention to physical needs and think investments in battery technology — and crazy software, even blockchain, that helps automatically allocate energy transfers — will be good. Idk how good buuuut that’s why I’m not a finance pro 🤓
Thanks, enjoyed reading this!
You asked for resources and since I'm a teacher, I can't resist making reading recommendations :)
You mention Bell Labs a couple of times and one of my favorite books is The Idea Factory by Gerstner. More than just a simple history of Bell Labs it really gets into what made them so innovative. Just a great read as well. There is a book on Parc as well, Dealers of Lightning by Hiltzner, that is super-informative (though not quite as well written, in my opinion.)
The Vaclav Smil book you mention is excellent and American Genesis by Thomas Hughes is along those lines though perhaps a bit more thoughtful and a bit less expository.
You should check out Jason Crawford's Progress Forum stuff (https://progressforum.org/). He has a lot of the same interests and has been writing about them for a while.
OK, I'll stop there before I dump a whole syllabus on you.
Hi Sophie, you popped up randomly on my Twitter, and i like your article! Makes me think of two things. First, economist Brad DeLong came out with a huge economic history of the “long” 20th century. He makes a big deal about commercialization in the intro then peppers it throughout. Not a deep dive but a compelling story. You could try to find just the intro online, or check out his substack. The other idea comes from energy utilities. UtiltyDive recently published something from Morgan Stanley, who think batteries are gonna just be waaaaay more useful across economies as we build way more solar and wind. So I agree with your attention to physical needs and think investments in battery technology — and crazy software, even blockchain, that helps automatically allocate energy transfers — will be good. Idk how good buuuut that’s why I’m not a finance pro 🤓
Very interesting Substack. Let me recommend you a very fast worth your time reading: Allianz Global Wealth Report . Thank you