The poster as we know it dates from the Industrial Revolution, although one form of outdoor advertising has existed for many centuries. Industrialisation meant that producer became separated from consumer while production for mass consumption rapidly increased, so that a development was necessary in the methods employed in bringing to public notice the merits and very existence of many goods. Billsticking began, a business rife with skulduggery, and in the second half of the nineteenth century an enterprising billposter took the step that changed outdoor advertising forever: he rented a...

Since the early 1980s, universities in the United States have greatly expanded their patenting and licensing activities. The Congressional Joint Economic Committee, among other authorities, have argued that this surge contributed to the economic boom of the 1990s. And, many observers have attributed this trend to the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980. Using quantitative analysis and detailed case studies, this book tests that conventional wisdom and assesses the effects of the Act, examining the diverse channels through which commercialization has occurred over the 20th century and since the passage...