Comment by twilo
1 year ago
That was mostly how the big scientific breakthroughs came in the 1800-1900s .. independent wealth.
That’s what a “scholar” is and Universities provided the perfect environment for that to thrive, which is no longer the case.
In the 1800’s and early 1900’s, maybe…
In post WW2 America though there was increased funding from the state, large research universities, institutes and national labs could be created. In the era where all that was really working at full speed, the “big scientific breakthrough” came at such a pace that it became hard to see what was big or not.
Edison's research lab was funded by companies wanting specific inventions developed.