Re: Watching the Economy Crumble

old_pif wrote: 
rick++ wrote:

Ironically during the "golden age of physics" in the
early 20th century the opportunities for scientists
were far worse.  this was mainly because there was
little government funding.  Scientists had to scramble
for the few rare academic positions.



Those were the "golden" years in terms of ideas. The golden age in
terms of employment had come after WWII with massive government and
private funding of defense projects. Fundamental research must be 20-50
years before they become viable for commercial and industrial use. Look
at nanotechnology and biotech. Its entire basis is of that age if not
older.

Electronics might be one exception to that. The transistor was invented in 1947 by William Shockley, Walter Brattain, and John Bardeen with the integrated circuit roughly ten years later. But, by the time Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce had independently developed the IC, transistors were already in the market place.



Old Pif

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