The Scientific Roots of Technology

In this work, Klavans and Boyack simplify their previous Places & Spaces map, "Maps of Science: Forecasting Large Trends in Science", 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. This map form takes advantage of the cognitive simplicity of a circle.

Over 18,000 inventor-authors from the Scopus literature and United States Patent databases (2002-2006) were identified to link technological output (patents) from inventors to scientific output (papers) of authors. Authors are positioned within the circle map at the average position of their scientific papers using the disciplines in which their papers occur. 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., Richard Klavans. 2008. The Scientific Roots of Technology. Albuquerque, NM and Berwyn, PA. Courtesy of SciTech Strategies, Inc. In Katy Börner & Elisha F. Hardy (Eds.), 4th Iteration (2008): Science Maps for Economic Decision Makers, Places and Spaces: Mapping Science.