2019/11/13 by Mario Coccia, Coccia, Mario
Decision Sciences · #FOS: Economics and business #General Economics (econ.GN) #Innovation Diffusion and Forecasting
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1911.05363
openalex publication_date 2019/11/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
One of the fundamental questions in science is how scientific disciplines\nevolve and sustain progress in society. No studies to date allows us to explain\nthe endogenous processes that support the evolution of scientific disciplines\nand emergence of new scientific fields in applied sciences of physics. This\nstudy confronts this problem here by investigating the evolution of\nexperimental physics to explain and generalize some characteristics of the\ndynamics of applied sciences. Empirical analysis suggests properties about the\nevolution of experimental physics and in general of applied sciences, such as:\na) scientific fission, the evolution of scientific disciplines generates a\nprocess of division into two or more research fields that evolve as autonomous\nentities over time; b) ambidextrous drivers of science, the evolution of\nscience via scientific fission is due to scientific discoveries or new\ntechnologies; c) new driving research fields, the drivers of scientific\ndisciplines are new research fields rather than old ones; d) science driven by\ndevelopment of general purpose technologies, the evolution of experimental\nphysics and applied sciences is due to the convergence of experimental and\ntheoretical branches of physics associated with the development of computer,\ninformation systems and applied computational science. Results also reveal that\naverage duration of the upwave of scientific production in scientific fields\nsupporting experimental physics is about 80 years. Overall, then, this study\nbegins the process of clarifying and generalizing, as far as possible, some\ncharacteristics of the evolutionary dynamics of scientific disciplines that can\nlay a foundation for the development of comprehensive properties explaining the\nevolution of science as a whole for supporting fruitful research policy\nimplications directed to advancement of science and technological progress in\nsociety.\n