The Scientific Roots of Technology

Kevin W. Boyack and Richard Klavans are interested in creating high-quality maps of science that can be used as tools for planning and evaluation on multiple levels. In this work, Boyack and Klavans simplify their Maps of Science: Forecasting Large Trends in Science (featured in the third iteration of this exhibit) into a circular map. The 554 scientific disciplines, representing over 16,000 journals and proceedings, are placed in a logical order around the perimeter of a circle. The resulting “circle of science” is used as a reference system to show the scientific roots of technology. Over 18,000 inventor-authors from the Scopus publication and United States Patent and Trademark Office databases (2002-2006) were identified to link technological output (patents) from inventors to scientific output (papers) of authors. Authors are located within the circle map at the average position of their scientific papers using the disciplines in which they publish. Patents by these authors are then placed at the authors’ locations on the map. Some patents and classes are tied to one area of science (e.g., ‘G06F,’ near the edge), while others build on multiple areas of science (e.g., ‘C07D,’ near the center). Some areas of science (e.g., physics, computer science) are tied to large numbers of patents, while other areas of science (e.g., social sciences) are tied to very few patents.

Boyack, Kevin W., and Richard Klavans. 2008. “Measuring Science-Technology Interaction Using Rare Inventor-Author Names.” Journal of Informetrics 2 (3): 173-182.

Klavans, Richard, and Kevin W. Boyack. (2010). “Toward an Objective, Reliable and Accurate Method for Measuring Research Leadership.” Scientometrics 82 (3): 539-553.

Boyack, Kevin W., and Richard Klavans. 2008. The Scientific Roots of Technology. Courtesy of SciTech Strategies, Inc. In “4th Iteration (2008): Science Maps for Economic Decision-Makers,” Places & Spaces: Mapping Science, edited by Katy Börner and Elisha F. Hardy. http://scimaps.org.