Dmitry S. Smirnov, Kelvin Willoughby

• “Technological innovation” has become a catch phrase of contemporary policy making for governments, corporations and academic organizations. For many it has become an article of faith that technological innovation is the key to solving economic, social and environmental problems, but the formula for success is not obvious. The phrase “science and technology” rolls off the tongues of policy makers, managers and researchers spontaneously, as if this is the natural order of things, but why is the converse phrase “technology and science” so rarely encountered? The orthodox view appears to be that technology is applied science, or that technological change flows naturally from scientific progress. However, what if popular preconceptions about the relationship between science and technology are misplaced? This paper addresses the question of the fundamental relationship between technology and science by first reviewing pertinent literature from the field of science, technology and society (STS) studies and by then investigating empirically the nature of the relationship in the field of energy conversion technology. It draws policy-making implications for investment in technology and science. We propose the theory of technology-conditioned science as a plausible and credible counterweight to extant commonplace presumptions that science is the precursor of technology.