Long Fuse, Big Bang: Thomas Edison, Electricity, and the Locus of Innovation

Calls for breakthroughs in science and technology have never been louder, and yet the demand for innovation is made more challenging by public and political misconceptions surrounding where, when, and how it happens. Professor Andrew Hargadon uses historical research to advance our current understanding of the innovation process. He discussed the social and technical context in which electric light, and the modern electric power infrastructure, were born and consider its implications for managing innovation in science and technology today.