Codification, patents and the geography of knowledge transfer in the electronic musical instrument industry

Recent research in economic geography has emphasized tacit knowledge as the basis of industrial learning. In contrast, codification and the practices of industrial writing have received little attention for the roles they play in mobilizing knowledge across space. This paper offers insight into the geographies of codification through an examination of technology transfer in the electronic musical instrument industry between 1965 and 1995. The research draws on a variety of primary and secondary data that include interviews with inventors, biographical accounts and patent analysis. These sources offer perspective on the career trajectories of three U.S. inventors who transferred knowledge from various contexts in California's high-tech industry to the Japanese firm, Yamaha. Conceptually, the paper draws on the actor–network theory and Latour's idea of translation to highlight the detours inventors must take to register novelty. The analysis reveals the problematic nature of codified knowledge and its transfer; in this case codified knowledge was mobile internationally but not locally, at least until it reached Japan. The paper argues for the need to understand how texts such as patents are produced—the context of their authorship, the geographies of their circulation and their efficacy for shaping further innovative practice.     

The many faces of food security

Food insecurity occurs when people do not have secure access to food necessary for a healthy life. The food‐insecure are typically the poor, and the traditional focus of food insecurity thinking has been the global poor. Increasingly, it is being recognized that in the rich world, food insecurity manifests itself in calorie‐rich but nutrient‐poor diets, leading to the linkage between poverty, obesity and its associated health problems. Furthermore, the historical link between income and diets, when projected forwards, shows a growth in demand that would be extremely challenging to meet with sustainable production. This is especially true given that emissions from the food system are significant contributors to climate change, perhaps more so than any other sector; and yet, probably less than half the world's calories are used directly for healthy diets (over half of agricultural production is lost or wasted, fed to animals or consumed in excess of healthy requirements). This review article, of a suite of four books, covers the way the food security argument is framed and how this is changing, food politics and justice and why our food system is as it is. The overall conclusion is that our food system is placing unsustainable demands on the planet, as well as creating injustice and inequity. The ‘productivist paradigm’ of growing ‘ever more, ever more cheaply’ while relying on international commodity trade and markets to solve the distributional issues, is unlikely to create a sustainable, just and food‐secure world.     

Comparing closed system, flow-through and fluid infiltration geochemical modelling: examples from K-alteration in the Ernest Henry Fe-oxide–Cu–Au system

Potassic alteration of rocks adjacent to, and within the Ernest Henry Fe‐oxide–Cu–Au deposit is used here as a test case to investigate fluid–rock interactions using various equilibrium dynamic geochemical modelling approaches available in the HCh code. Reaction of a simple K–Fe–(Na,Ca) brine (constrained by published fluid inclusion analysis) with an albite‐bearing felsic volcanic rock, resulted in predicted assemblages defined by (i) K‐feldspar–muscovite–magnetite, (ii) biotite–K‐feldspar–magnetite, (iii) biotite–quartz–albite and (iv) albite–biotite–actinolite–pyroxene with increasing rock buffering (decreasing log w/r). Models for isothermal–isobaric conditions (450°C and 2500 bars) were compared with models run over a T–P gradient (450 to 200°C and 2500 to 500 bars). Three principal equilibrium dynamic simulation methods have been used: (i) static closed system, where individual steps are independent of all others, (ii) flow‐through and flush, where a part of the result is passed as input further along the flow line, and (iii) fluid infiltration models that simulate fluid moving through a rock column. Each type is best suited to a specific geological fluid–rock scenario, with increasing complexity, computation requirements and approximation to different parts of the natural system. Static closed system models can be used to quickly ascertain the broad alteration assemblages related to changes in the water/rock ratio, while flow‐through models are better suited to simulating outflow of reacted fluid into fresh rock. The fluid infiltration model can be used to simulate spatially controlled fluid metasomatism of rock, and we show that, given assumptions of porosity relationships and spatial dimensions, this model is a first‐order approximation to full reactive transport, without requiring significant computational time. This work presents an overview of the current state of equilibrium dynamic modelling technology using the HCh code with a view to applying these techniques to predictive modelling in exploration for mineral deposits. Application to the Ernest Henry Fe‐oxide–Cu–Au deposit demonstrates that isothermal fluid–rock reaction can account for some of the alteration zonation around the deposit.     

RAINY RIVER STURGEON: AN OJIBWAY RESOURCE IN THE FUR TRADE ECONOMY

Previous fur trade scholarship has emphasized the hunting of fur bearers and large game rather than fishing as a component of trade relations with native peoples in the northwestern interior of North America. Evidence from fur trade records of the 18th and 19th centuries clearly indicates the importance of the Rainy River sturgeon fishery to Ojibway subsistence and commerce. In addition to being a major food resource, sturgeon provided the Ojibway with a substance called isinglass, which was traditionally important and was also a marketable commodity. Derived from the air bladder of sturgeon, isinglass was highly valued in the European market. The Hudson's Bay Company took great efforts to secure supplies of isinglass from native fishermen. Analysis of isinglass returns from Hudson's Bay Company account books reveals the magnitude of sturgeon production from the Rainy River area. During the fur trade period, the sturgeon fishery was a highly productive industry, characterized by a sustained annual yield. With the advent of non-native commercial fisheries in the region, production increased beyond the level of sustained yield. This resource was virtually destroyed by the early 20th century. Les recherches antérieures consacrées au commerce des fourrures ont fait ressortir la chasse d'animaux à fourrure et de gros gibiers plutôt que la pêche cornme activité importante dans les relations comrnerciales avec les autochtones vivant à I'interieur du Nord-Ouest de I'Amériyue du Nord. Les documents touchant le commerce de la fourrure dux 18^e et 19^e siècles démontrent nettement l'importance de la pêhe aux esturgeons dans la riviéere Rainy pour les Ojibways dans leur vie et leur commerce. En plus de constituer une irnportante res-source alimentaire, l'esturgeon offrait aux Ojibways une substance appelée ichtyocolle qui avait une importance traditionnelle et représentait également un produit négotiable. Ce produit, provenant de la poche d'air de l'esturgeon ètait très estimè sur le marché européen. la compagnie de la baie d'Hudson s'est efforcée de s'ap-provisionner en ichtyocolle auprès des pêcheurs indigènes. Les livres de comptabilitè de la compagnie de labaie d'Hudson révèfent l'importance de la production d'esturgeons dans la région de la rivière Rainy. Au cours de la période du commerce des fourrures, la pêhe d'esturgeons était une industrie très productive, caractérisée par un rendement annuel soutenu. Avec I'arrivée dans la région de la pêche commerciale non-autochtone, la production a dépassé les niveaux de rendements support-ables. Cette ressource s'est trouvée virtuellement dé-truite au début du xx^e siècle.     

9/11 and the terrorism industry

9/11 has been the trigger for a decade‐long revival in research work on terrorism. The ten books under review illustrate the diversity of approaches to this growing field of study: the quality of the books does not, however, entirely refute the suggestion that there are diminishing returns to knowledge within the so‐called terrorism industry. What they all share, whether orthodox or critical, is a belief in the transformative significance of September 11: how we think about these attacks and the appropriate responses remains an area of significant disagreement.