The Economic Laws of Scientific Research [Hardcover]

Terence Kealey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312128479 | ISBN-13: 978-0312128470 | Publication Date: June 1996

The purpose of this book is to assess the myth that government-funded science works economically. Terence Kealey argues that the free market approach rather than that of state funding has proved by far the most successful in stimulating science and innovation.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is highly recommended reading or as a reference for anyone in science or technology...."--Dennis L. Feucht, Analogzone

"It is the first book by a practicing scientist to challenge the orthodoxy for decades, and should be read by those who are involved in science or merely wish to promote it." --Wall Street Journal (Europe)

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312128479
• ISBN-13: 978-0312128470
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,572,288 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Treasure trove of great information, December 12, 2003

By 

Roger I. Roots "Roger Roots" (Las Vegas, Nevada United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Economic Laws of Scientific Research (Hardcover)

Kealey's "The Economic Laws of Scientific Research" is one of those great libertarian books that proves a difficult and counterintuitive thesis. Kealey's thesis: that science is best left to the private sector and that government funding of science is a curse in disguise. At first thought, this idea seems counterintuitive. Hasn't government funding of science produced all kinds of advancements in technology? What about the internet? the various benefits of NASA and the Defense Department? Kealey shows that all of these benefits have been produced through very inefficient means.
Private sector firms somehow manage to generate scientific discoveries at a far greater rate than the governments of the world despite having much less money. Kealey points to the fact that the U.S. has generated far greater scientific advancements (mostly through the many business firms that dot the U.S. landscape) than the former Soviet Union. The U.S.S.R. employed a very high percentage of the world's scientists and engineers for several decades, and yet failed in the technology race. Kealey demonstrates that there are sound sociological reasons for this.

Buy it; read it.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant history of the roots of scientific progress, July 12, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Wollstonecraft, N.S.W. Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: THE ECONOMIC LAWS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (Paperback)

Wow! A marvellously entertaining book, despite the horribly boring title. This must be one of the best exposures of the destructiveness of Big Government yet. Anyone who thinks that the free market is OK for making shoes and pizzas but that the really "serious stuff" like scientific research wont happen unless paid for by government should get a load of this book. From Roman times, through the Industrial Revolution to the present, the author shows that nearly all the important scientific and technological advances in history have come from private sources, from tradesmen or industrialists who had a "problem" and needed to fix it, and not from tax-funded laboratories. Worse than that, the more government has spent on science the slower has been economic growth. Should be required reading for all Ministers for Science Policy, not to mention Prime Ministers, Presidents and Heads of Treasuries.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terence Kealy is Adam Smith of XX century, August 30, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Charleston, SC, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Economic Laws of Scientific Research (Paperback)

It is a most systematical and wonderfully written apology for the introduction principles of market economy in the policy of basic science funding. The bad news: The logical application of this theory will resulted in the elimination of all economically uneffective state funded science agencies. The good news: This action will dramatically increase salary of good scientists. Why? Read this excellent book. All explanations are there. After publication of this book the future of system of State Socialism in Academia looks very dark. The best time for the system of state slavary is over.