Ascientific enterprise is ascience-basedproject developed by, or in cooperation with, a privateentrepreneur. For example, in theAge of Exploration, leaders likeHenry the Navigator founded schools of navigation, from which stemmed voyages of exploration.
Examples of enterprising scientific organizations
[edit]Each organization listed below has the ability to conduct scientific research on an extended basis, involving multiple researchers over an extended time. Generally, the research is funded not only for the science itself, but for some application which shows promise for the enterprise. But the researchers, if left to their own choices, will tend to follow their research interest, which is essential for the long-term health of their chosen field. Note that a successful scientific enterprise is not equivalent to a successful high-tech enterprise or to a successful business enterprise, but that they form an ecology, afood chain.
- TheMax Planck Institute, which supports fundamental research in the natural, life and social sciences, the arts and humanities
- TheRAND Corporation, founded as aresearch corporation. Did groundbreaking work in the field ofartificial intelligence
- TheJet Propulsion Laboratory, founded byTheodore von Kármán
- Bell Laboratories, renowned for the quality of its scientific work and for inventing the operating systemUnix, and the programming languagesC andC++
- XeroxPARC, research organization which has also spawned innovations such as thegraphical user interface,laser printing, andEthernet
- SRI, where thecomputer mouse was invented, were explicitly founded with a research basis
- IBM Research, notable for inventing therelational database,hard disk drive, andfloppy disk
- Hughes Research Laboratories, location of the invention of the first working laser
- TheHoward Hughes Medical Institute, non-profit medical research organization
