Innovation: Does Asia need Newton or Edison?

• Main Authors: Srivastava, Rajendra K., Zerrillo, Philip
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
• Subjects: Technology and Innovation
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/ami/113; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/ami/article/1104/viewcontent/13._AMI_Issue11_Innovation.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Ask who has contributed the most to innovation over the past five centuries and you might get very different answers. On one end, you would have to consider Sir Isaac Newton, who was one of the most influential scientists of our time. A philosopher, physicist and mathematician, Sir Newton was the leader of the scientific revolution, and his work at Cambridge University laid the groundwork for many of the world’s greatest inventions. And on the other end, you have Thomas Alva Edison, who attended school for a total of 12 weeks in his life. This self-taught inventor with nearly 1,100 patents to his name is credited with having created the motion picture camera, the phonograph, the radio, and the light bulb, while also developing practical solutions to assist industry titans such as Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone to scale the rapidly developing U.S. automobile industry.