技术经常在改进,而且变化愈来愈快。从已公布的一些专利数字可以得到证实。据统计英国在16——17世纪,每年平均批准专利申请3—5件;18世纪每年平均近100件;到19世纪末、20世纪初,每年增至1万件。目前,全世界每年公布专利文献约100万份,反映新发明30万到35万个。到80年代初,全世界已有专利2,700万个。这还不包括那些没有专利制度国家的技术发明,也不包括如药学方面那样不得申请专利的技术发明。但在这许多技术改进中,那些是“技术革新”?哪些导致“技术革命”?“技术革新”与“技术革命”有什么不同?有什么关系?讨论这些问题,将有助于认识和正确对待当今世 Technology is often improving, and changing faster and faster. From the number of published patents can be confirmed. According to statistics, in the 16th and 17th centuries, Britain averages 3-5 patent applications a year on average; in the 18th century it averaged nearly 100 a year; and by the late 19th and early 20th centuries it increased to 10,000. At present, about 1 million patent documents are published in the world every year, reflecting 300,000 to 350,000 new inventions. By the early 1980s, there had been 27 million patents worldwide. This does not include technical inventions in countries without a patent system, nor does it include technological inventions that are not patentable as in the case of pharmaceuticals. But of those many technological improvements, what are the “technological innovations” and what make the “technological revolutions”? What is the difference between “technological innovations” and “technological revolutions?” Discussing these issues will help to recognize and correct Treat the present world