1, leading the development of science and technology in the 20th century.
The 20th century is a century of unprecedented brilliance of science and technology and all-round development of science in human history. The scientific achievements of the 20th century and the material wealth it created greatly exceeded the sum of the previous thousands of years. The experience of the past hundred years tells us that the competition of economic strength, including military strength, among countries in the world in the future is essentially the competition of national scientific and technological strength. America's strong economic strength stems from its strong scientific and technological strength behind it. Throughout this century, the development of science and technology has undergone three major changes. We will see that the developed countries, led by the United States, have been leading the trend of contemporary scientific and technological development.
The first great scientific and technological revolution in the 20th century was a scientific revolution centered on physics, which generally ended with 1930. The greatest achievement of this revolution is the establishment of relativity and quantum theory. During this period, Einstein founded the theory of relativity, which revealed the universal laws among time, space, matter and motion, paving the way for the birth of a number of emerging basic sciences such as high-energy physics, astrophysics and radiation physics, as well as the birth of a number of high technologies such as aerospace technology and nuclear energy application. The quantum theory founded by Planck, Schrodinger and Bohr. It is a historic leap in human understanding of the material movement and interaction in the micro-world. It has not only become the theoretical basis of structural chemistry, condensed matter physics, theoretical biology and other disciplines, but also opened the door for the advent of microelectronics, optoelectronics, lasers, new materials, atomic nuclei and other technologies and industries.
The breakthrough of semiconductor technology and the discovery of the double helix structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in 1950s triggered the rapid development of world science and technology. Subsequently, great progress has been made in the research of atomic energy technology, space technology, microelectronics technology, communication technology, bioengineering technology and new materials, which greatly improved the ability of human beings to understand and transform the natural world. This is the second major scientific and technological change from the late World War II to the 1960s. This major scientific and technological change has made a series of technological breakthroughs on the basis of new scientific theories, which has brought about the development of emerging high-tech industries such as nuclear industry, electronics industry, aerospace industry, computer computing industry and bioengineering, and made the world economic structure and human life look brand-new. Therefore, people call this major scientific and technological change scientific and technological revolution or industrial revolution [10]
The third major scientific and technological revolution in the 20th century was the information technology revolution that began in 1970s and 1980s. It is a new scientific and technological revolution or a new industrial revolution based on information theory and cybernetics, and now this new scientific and technological revolution has become the mainstream of world scientific and technological and economic development. Information technology mainly refers to a technical complex composed of information acquisition, storage, transmission and processing. It includes a series of technologies such as microelectronics, communication, computer and artificial intelligence, automation, light guide and optoelectronics. Microelectronics technology, as a new basic technology, organically combines computer and modern communication technology, leading to the birth of modern information technology. No wonder some people say that after the invention of language, writing and printing, the computer revolution brought the fourth information explosion in human history [1 1]. In today's society, all kinds of information needed by human beings are obtained, processed, stored and transmitted through communication facilities based on modern communication technology. Every major change in contemporary science and technology is accompanied by the explosive growth of scientific and technological knowledge, which has triggered a new high economic growth and even a new industrial revolution. The rapid growth of American economy benefits from the rapid development of its science and technology.
2. Always attach importance to science and technology.
The reason why the United States has become a country standing in front of the current wave of knowledge economy is by no means a day's work. It should be said that since the founding of the United States more than 200 years ago, the cause of science and technology has been developing continuously. The founding fathers of the United States attached great importance to science and technology. In the first constitution of the United States, they proposed that education and science should develop independently without any interference. As an outstanding scientist, Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, believed that economic development depended largely on the development of science and technology, and adopted many policies to promote the development of science and technology. Under the condition of national strength at that time, it was mainly to learn and introduce European technology and change the backward colonial economy. After the civil war, the United States began to seek innovation and breakthrough in scientific and technological development. Great achievements have been made in some important fields such as electric power industry technology, and Edison is also an outstanding representative. The discovery of oil fields and the introduction and wide use of internal combustion engines in the United States led to the rapid and all-round development of the industrial revolution, including steel industry, machinery manufacturing and transportation.
/kloc-in the mid-9th century, scientific research activities of various disciplines have been vigorously carried out in the United States. 1867, the National Academy of Sciences was founded. At the same time, many private enterprises also regard science and technology as the basis of industrial development and set up their own research departments and laboratories. At the beginning of this century, the American government set up the National Research Council and other scientific research management institutions, and began to co-ordinate the national scientific and technological work, and also invested in the establishment of national laboratories, thus promoting the applied research of physics, medicine and agricultural sciences and promoting the combination of government and scientific and technological education. As early as before World War II, the United States has established a diversified and decentralized scientific research system that adapts to modern mass production.
World War II made Americans see the importance of basic research from atomic energy research to the explosion of Japanese atomic bombs, from radar research to the exertion of European battlefield forces. Therefore, after World War II, the United States began to attach importance to basic research. 1950 set up the national science foundation to assist basic research and provide funds for basic research in physics, biology, mathematics, medicine and other fields. The Atomic Energy Commission and the National Institutes of Health, established in the 1940s, are also government agencies devoted to basic scientific research. At the same time, the US government continues to strengthen the construction of laboratories. A series of important research centers have also been established with universities, and many major scientific research projects in the United States have been completed in these laboratories or research centers [12].
From 65438 to 0957, the former Soviet Union sent the first artificial satellite into space, which made the United States, which has always been regarded as the world's first technological superpower in the 20th century, feel ashamed and excited. The American government realizes that application and development are the direct driving force of economic development, while basic research is the source driving force of economic development. Therefore, the strategy of science and technology has been changed, and the position of basic research as the most fundamental resource of the country has been determined. The federal government of the United States first increased its investment in science and technology, especially basic scientific research, and the research funds increased year after year, which effectively promoted the development of basic scientific research. The fierce international competition in science and technology has prompted the US government to speed up the development of science and technology. Its main measures are not only to increase investment in basic scientific research, but also to increase expenditure on national defense science and technology, and even to increase funds for basic education. A series of measures to make American bass? Are you tired? ⒘ ⒘ ⒘ ⑿ ⒙ ⒘ ⒘ ⒘ ⒃ ⒃ ⒃ ⒃ ⒃ ⒃ ⒃ ⒃ ⒃ ⒃ ⒃? Gu ⑾ go? аа?? у pregnant? Bear? ┗? Can chalk core resist yellow cutting? I'm afraid there are two sources. What's the problem? Stop? Poke wood? Hey? Why are you so tired? Poke like a slap in the face? 2 6? Has the blue faded? Lazy and stupid? Among the nine great inventions, the United States has 19. Among the global 1 10 major innovations after World War II, the United States has 74.
The most important factor to promote American economic development is a series of strategic measures adopted by the United States to develop science and technology. Due to the great progress of science and technology, the production efficiency of agriculture, industry and service industry in the United States is at the advanced level in the world. The United States basically achieved industrialization at the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century. 1900, the per capita income of the United States surpassed that of European countries and entered the ranks of rich countries. 19 10- 1940 With the modernization of industry, agriculture has also realized mechanization and electrification. As early as the end of the 20th century, the average cultivated land of American farmers was1800-2,400 mu, while the average cultivated land of each farmer in China was only tens of mu. 1929- 194 1 year, the contribution rate of American scientific and technological progress to economic growth reached 33.8%; By the 1980s, the contribution rate of science and technology in the United States was as high as 80%. No matter in history or now, the contribution rate of science and technology in the United States is the strongest in the world [12].
On the other hand, the role of science and technology in the economy is to promote the optimization of industrial structure. From 65438 to 0890, American industrial output jumped to the top in the world and became the largest industrial country in the world. With the use of large machines and assembly line operation, the industrial population has moved to the tertiary industry. Today, the tertiary industry in the United States accounts for 73% of the national economy, the highest in the world. At the same time, the industrial structure has also undergone tremendous changes, such as the development of science and technology, which has promoted the development of many emerging industries, such as microelectronics technology industry, information industry, bioengineering industry and pharmaceutical industry. The high-tech sector has become the largest industrial sector in the United States, accounting for 8% of GDP. Since World War II, the United States has been occupying a leading position in various fields of high technology, which has brought the United States into a brand-new era of knowledge economy.
199 1 In the [National Key Technologies] report submitted by the US government to Congress in April, it was determined that the United States would develop 22 "key technologies". 1993, 1 1 In June, 2000, the National Science and Technology Committee headed by the national leader was established in the White House for the first time in American history, and it has a tripartite confrontation with the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. In the same year, the U.S. government decided to shift the focus of science and education work from military to civilian or military-civilian use, and vigorously develop high-tech industries focusing on the "information superhighway". By the end of this century, high-tech industries represented by the information industry have become the leading economy in the United States. The information industry has become the largest industry in the United States and an increasingly important driving force to promote the development of the national economy in the United States. In the past five years, the information technology industry has created 65,438+05 million new jobs for the United States, and it is the industry with the largest number of employees in the United States. 25% of the economic growth in the United States is attributed to information technology, and the development speed of computers and telecommunications is twice that of the United States. Without high-tech industries, there would be no rapid economic development in the United States today. In recent years, the American economy has developed strongly, which is entirely due to the high-tech industry. High-tech plays an important role in American national economy, and high-tech industry has become the locomotive to promote American economic development [9, 10].
3. Continuously increase investment in science and technology.
Research and development (R&; D) is the power source of a country's scientific and technological development, so the input and output of R&D is an important index to evaluate the scientific and technological innovation activities in the world today. From the international experience, all countries or regions with advanced science and technology or active innovation activities are in a leading position in the absolute or relative level of scientific and technological investment. On the basis of scientific research activities, the United States has always attached great importance to scientific and technological investment. After World War II, investment in science and technology increased rapidly. 1940 R&D expenditure is less than 1% of the US government budget expenditure. 1963 exceeded the total budget 10%, and 1965 reached 65438. Today, American scientific research is at the leading level in the world, both in total and relative quantity. From 65438 to 0996, the total expenditure on R&D activities in the United States was 184665 billion US dollars, ranking first in the world, 2 1.2% more than the second place, while China was only 3.933 billion US dollars, ranking first in the world 17. According to the latest statistics of the National Science Foundation, the investment in R&D in the United States (R&; D) Total expenditure reached $220.6 billion, an increase of 5.3% in real terms compared with 65,438+0,997. R&D expenditure accounts for 2.6 1% of GDP, which is higher than 2.54% in 1.997 and 2.57% in 1.996. [ 14- 16]
The change of American science and technology policy can also be seen from the proportion of basic, application and development research expenses. 1953, the proportion of these three types of research expenses in the United States is 9: 25: 65; 1977 is12.7: 22.05: 65.19; 198 1 year is 13:22:65. This ratio has been maintained at around 15:25:60 since the 1980s, which shows that the proportion of basic research expenses has been rising. During the period of 1997, the US R&D expenditure reached US$ 205.7 billion, including US$ 31200 million for basic research, which was 2.8% higher than that of 1996. Of the total R&D funds invested by the United States last year, $34.4 billion was invested in basic research, $49.8 billion in applied research and the remaining $654.38+364 billion in development. The proportion of basic, application and development research expenses is 1.6: 23: 6 1. In this year's US federal government budget, research funding has increased by 8% compared with last year. Strong financial strength and huge research scale keep many basic disciplines in the United States at the leading level in the world, such as physics, aerospace and astronomy. [ 15- 17].
American enterprises have a long history of investing in research and development. Many large companies have their own research institutes and laboratories to study new products or technologies. This is a scientific research that directly relies on the market and promotes the economy more directly and realistically. From 65438 to 0996, the total expenditure directly spent by American enterprises on R&D activities was $ 65438+3420 billion, still ranking first in the world, 34% more than the second-ranked Japanese, while China only spent $2.493 billion. Investment in enterprise R&D has improved the long-term competitiveness of American enterprises. In some developed countries, the increase of capital investment has increased the relative importance of economic growth. Entering the stage of knowledge economy, scientific and technological innovation has become the forerunner of sustained economic growth in developed countries. 1997, the R&D investment of American enterprises accounted for 60% of the total, with a growth rate of 5%, and the R&D expenditure of 300 American companies which played an important role in the international market accounted for 88.3% of the total R&D expenditure of all enterprises [15, 16, 18].
Venture capital plays an important role in the capital investment system. At present, there are more than 3,000 venture capital institutions in the United States, and the amount of venture capital reaches 1.4 trillion US dollars, exceeding the total savings of American banks. 1999 in the second quarter, the venture capital of emerging companies reached a record $7.7 billion, nearly double the record of $4.3 billion just broken in the first quarter. In the first half of the year, the total amount of venture capital was $654.38+02 billion, an increase of 62% over the same period last year. In the second quarter, the number of venture capital companies increased by 30% to 992 compared with 763 in the same period last year, and the average investment scale also increased by 57% to 7.4 million compared with 4.9 million in the same period last year. Venture capital has become an inseparable part of American economy. With the rapid development of technological progress, more investment funds will eventually promote productivity and technological innovation. It is reported that emerging Internet companies received $3.8 billion in venture capital in the second quarter, accounting for about half of the total venture capital, and technology companies generally received $6.9 billion in the second quarter, accounting for 90% of the total issued funds [19].
What is the size of pu? Pure? Stop? Tolerance to guanidine? 1993, the total number of people engaged in research and development in the United States was 962,700, and the number of scientists and engineers engaged in research and development activities per 10,000 people was 74.3; From 65438 to 0997, the total number of people engaged in R&D in China was 588,700. There are 8.4 scientists and engineers engaged in R&D activities per 10,000 people. 199 1 year, the proportion of scientists and engineers engaged in research and development activities in American business is 80.8%; 197 The proportion of people engaged in R&D in China's business circles was only 35.2%. The per capita expenditure of R&D personnel in the United States ranks first in the world, reaching 17 15000 USD/year in 1993; 1997, the per capita scientific research expenditure of Chinese researchers and developers was about RMB 8 1 10,000 yuan, which was quite different from that of the United States [10, 15, 16, 18].
4. A good atmosphere for scientific and technological development.
America's leading position in economy depends on America's leading position in science and technology, which is inseparable from the good atmosphere of American science and technology development. From bank ATMs to supermarket scanners, technology has penetrated into almost every corner of Americans' lives and helped promote the sustained growth of the American economy for eight years. The unremitting investment of American enterprises in high technology, coupled with the employment opportunities created by it, makes the position of high-tech industry in the whole economic system more and more important. The development of science and technology, especially the development of computer technology, has promoted the economic growth and corporate surplus in the United States. According to the latest estimate, the core computer and communication technology industry has now accounted for 6.5% to 7.5% of the gross domestic product of the United States, and surpassed automobile manufacturing, service industry and construction industry to become the second largest industry after health insurance service.
According to the statistics of the federal government, in the 1990s, about half of the expenditure of American enterprises on commercial equipment was invested in the information technology field, and since the early 1990s, the expenditure on goods and services related to computers and communications has increased by about one third. The American Information Technology Association estimates that the expenditure of American enterprises on information and communication technology increased from $452 billion in192 to $643 billion in197. In the past eight years, the number of personal computers used by schools and families alone has doubled. Vice President Al Gore said: The new information digital technology is changing the way Americans work, live, communicate and entertain.
The American government and various scientific and technological institutions have various awards, such as various presidential awards and numerous awards from various societies and associations, to commend and encourage people who have contributed to the cause of science and technology. There are many Nobel Prize winners in the United States, which has also injected a good scientific and technological atmosphere into the United States. 1950- 1997, the global nobel prize (limited to physics, chemistry, physiology, medicine and economics) has a total of ***334 winners, of which more than half are Americans, with *** 184, far exceeding the * * 47 [650]
5. Pay special attention to scientific and technological innovation.
Knowledge innovation refers to the process of acquiring new knowledge of basic science and technical science through scientific research, including basic research and applied research. The purpose of knowledge innovation is to pursue new discoveries, explore new laws, create new theories and accumulate new knowledge. Knowledge innovation is the foundation of technological innovation, the source of new technologies and inventions, and a revolutionary force to promote scientific and technological progress and economic growth.
Entering the stage of knowledge economy, scientific and technological innovation has become the forerunner of sustained economic growth in developed countries. In the United States, almost all famous brand enterprises attach great importance to developing new technologies and products. They believe that only by seizing the commanding heights of new technologies and products can we gain a competitive advantage. Bell Laboratories has gathered 50,000 scientists and is world-renowned in the United States. It is these scientists who have created countless "world firsts" for their companies. Intel's operating income increased by more than 1968, reaching 1994.
According to statistics, in Silicon Valley of the United States, there are more than 7,000 high-tech companies' headquarters. Of the 65,438+000 high-tech companies in the world, 20 are camped here, such as Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Intel. The glory of Silicon Valley lies not in the production of chips, computers and software. Instead, it is that a large number of talents with the most innovative spirit, ideas and creativity in the world have gathered, and these people have established innovative systems, systems and management methods, and the resulting steaming innovative social environment. It is precisely because of this special environment that groups of people with stronger innovation ability are constantly cultivated. Innovation has become an eternal theme here [20].
The number of patents granted reflects a country's scientific and technological innovation level from another angle. From 1885, the number of patent applications in the United States reached more than 3,000 each year. From 19 to the 1990s, the cumulative number of patents was about 2 10000. Today, the United States is at the advanced level in the world in protecting intellectual property rights. During the period of 199 1- 1995, the number of patents granted to nationals increased by 2. 15% annually. From 65438 to 0995, the number of patents granted to nationals in the United States was 64509. 1995, the number of patents obtained by American nationals abroad was 109 and 146, which was 2824 1 more than that of the second-ranked Japan, while that of China was only 2 13. The average number of valid patents per 6,543,800 residents in the United States is 422, while China has only two [654.38+ 02].
The U.S. government has long recognized that emerging small enterprises are a powerful new force in scientific and technological innovation. In order to increase the contribution of small businesses to scientific and technological innovation and solve the employment problem, the US Congress passed the Small Business Science and Technology Investment Act from 65438 to 0958. From 1958 to 1969, the federal government has invested as much as $30 billion in innovative small and medium-sized enterprises. It is three times larger than the private investment in the same period. Today, several famous big technology companies in the United States, such as Apple Computer Company, Compaq Company and Intel Company, etc. These companies are all developed by the science and technology investment fund established by the government in the initial stage. After 20 years' practice, the U.S. Congress has found that the government's R&D expenditure on small enterprises is much better than that on large enterprises, universities and national laboratories, and has made remarkable achievements in innovation, research progress and commercialization rate, especially in the transfer of national defense technology to civilian use. After 1982, Congress passed three bills related to innovative research and development of small enterprises. Operating within the framework of these bills, the government has successively established the SME Innovation Research Program (SBIR), the SME Technology Transfer Program (STTR) and the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), which has enabled the small and medium-sized high-tech enterprises in the United States to develop rapidly. From the birth of IBM personal computer in the early 1980s to the present, the United States has completed the transformation from industrial economy to knowledge economy under the impetus of small enterprises in the computer industry, thus supporting the sustained and rapid growth of the American economy in recent years. According to reports, at present, 37% of the gross national product of the United States comes from small and medium-sized enterprises, which provide nearly 50% of the jobs in the national labor market, and nearly two-thirds of the new jobs are created by small enterprises [22]. More surprisingly, most new products and ideas come from small businesses.
From 65438 to 0990, the United States Department of Commerce began to implement a scientific and technological innovation system called Advanced Technology Plan (ATP). It is a unique form of cooperation between the government and private enterprises, aiming at promoting and urging enterprises to research and develop high-tech with great risks, so as to improve the quality of American products, enhance the competitiveness of American products and services in the world market and promote the development of American science and technology economy. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the US Department of Commerce completed the evaluation of the Advanced Technology Plan (ATP) in the first half of this year. According to the evaluation report, the economic benefits created by the implementation of the advanced technology plan far exceed the investment of the plan. The evaluation report said that without this scientific and technological innovation plan, many industries in the United States, such as biotechnology, electronics, manufacturing and software, would hardly reach today's technical level. For example, with the support of the advanced technology plan, a set of technology jointly developed by some small and medium-sized companies for monitoring and controlling the automobile body manufacturing process has been applied in more than half of Chrysler and General Motors' factories in North America. By the year 2000, this technology will be fully applied, which will reduce the annual production cost of automobile manufacturing, one of the most important industrial sectors in the United States, by 65 million dollars, reaching 654.38+0.6 billion dollars. The new technology developed by a newly established small company to process large-scale semiconductor wafers makes the United States the first country in the world to process a new generation of semiconductor wafers with a diameter of 300 mm [23].
The American government has long recognized the importance of high technology to economic development, and has invested a lot of financial and material resources to develop high-tech industries for many years. From 65438 to 0993, Clinton put forward the slogan "Technology is the generator of economic development, and science refuels the generator", and formulated a series of policies to promote the development of science and technology. 1July, 1996, the American Commission on International Science and Education published a report [24], which pointed out: "In the second1century, our ability to master the leading position in technology will largely determine the prosperity, security and global influence of the United States, and then determine the living standards and quality of the American people."