Raising invention’s status and prestige was crucial to how Britain first got its reputation during the Industrial Revolution as the best place to innovate. Invention came to be seen as a viable and attractive career path, not just financially but in terms of the social standing that could result from it – something that was purposefully cultivated by those seeking to improve the country’s technological prospects.
In Honours for Innovators, authored by Anton Howes and Ned Donovan, the case is made for establishing a new order of chivalry, specifically designed to encourage invention and raise the status of being an innovator in the eyes of the public. The paper sets out the details of how the order might be organised, how its recipients might be chosen, and the costs of setting up and running the order.