Lincoln Labs: (e.g.) http://worrydream.com/refs/Buxton%20-%20Interaction%20at%20Lincoln%20Laboratory%20in%20the%201960.pdf … SRI: (e.g.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804738718 RAND Corporation: (e.g.) http://worrydream.com/refs/Kennedy%20-%20Administration%20of%20Research%20in%20a%20Research%20Corporation.html … Interval (as a cautionary tale perhaps)
What high-quality materials about successful industrial labs am I missing? https://patrickcollison.com/labs
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- Wow http://worrydream.com/refs/ that's the good stuff - I crowdsourced a spreadsheet of labs once a few years ago https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ogShrx5UP0Ulb2knCAOZ3irmFrjIcuTP7gmOforA09E/edit#gid=0 … - IMO most labs have to be non-threatening to the core business. No one funds OUR WORST NIGHTMARE LABS. But they should!
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Amazing that no one has cited pre-war Germany yet, but I am not sure what is the best source.
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An excellent narrative is The Alchemy of Air about the German efforts to develop a method to fix Nitrogen on an industrial scale -- They had to invent new materials, processes, devices, instruments -- An incredible feat of engineering. Not sure if it's a good fit for PC's list..
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.. but it's a great read nonetheless: https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Air-Jewish-Scientific-Discovery/dp/0307351793 …pic.twitter.com/dMgz2WDglR
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I'd argue that competition is key. The Manhattan project, Human Genome, bletchley park, and the early space program were races. A fear of losing is a great motivator
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Love this. Reminds me of collection I'm trying to make of groups that coalesce, were named, and were inordinately productive. Some (maybe) additional sources:
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Vannevar Bush bio: Vannevar Bush bio:https://www.amazon.com/Endless-Frontier-Vannevar-Engineer-American/dp/0262740222 …
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Fred Terman bio: https://www.amazon.com/Fred-Terman-Stanford-Discipline-University/dp/0804749140 … Vannever Bush, Fred Terman, and Alfred Loomis (Tuxedo Park) together to me make up the core books about vanguard of SV and also where it begins to see road fork between applied research and tech companies
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Very much applied research, but less tech and more chemistry and bio. The Lander lab (http://www.lander-lab.com/ ) and Whitesides Research Group (http://gmwgroup.harvard.edu/ ) are among most prolific. There are HBS case studies on both. All caveats on case studies--but I'll DM to you
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My favorite source of course is oral histories. I tend to dislike being intermediated by authors frame of how they want to filter data about organizations. Typically counter productive to what I want to understand of orgs. And esp true when book is written to 'unpack success'
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Examples of oral histories, but sure more and better ones to be had http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Taylor_Robert/102702015.05.01.acc.pdf … http://ethw.org/Oral-History:Frederick_E.Terman_Associates …
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Or better example: http://ethw.org/Oral-History:MIT_Radiation_Laboratory …
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Not sure what qualifies as successful, but in terms of high quality writing on this subject, Nathan Myhrvold's original memo laying out why Microsoft should start its own research lab is good:https://www.xconomy.com/national/2013/10/01/microsoft-research-memo-slideshow/ …
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Taste for Makers by
@paulg You and Your Research by Richard Hamming Insanely Simple by Ken SegallThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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I really liked this paper by Roy Levin (former director of MSR Silicon Valley) on how to manage industrial research labs. http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~oded/X/msr.pdf
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Patrick, I would also include this wonder book: David Sarnoff Research Center: RCA Labs to Sarnoff Corporation. David Sarnoff just about defined the elements of the modern corporate laboratory.
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Patrick, I would also include this fine book: Who Got Einstein's Office? Eccentricity and Genius at the Institute for Advanced Study. I spent quite a number of years visiting this amazing place and got to meet many of the scholars they write about.
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Patrick, you are off to a great start! First thought is to add the essay on R&D management that Edwin Land penned. Google is not finding it for me today, but the PDF is floating on the interweb somewhere...
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