[dv_dt]

Open research. The most academic of labs or research groups used to be places where professors could follow their interests - it's hard to imagine that nearly as many scientists today would have freedoms to pursue interesting math or phenomena like Feynman or Shannon had in their day. It feels like accountism (or maybe some would say neoliberalism) has infected everything.

[indigochill]

Is there somewhere I can learn more about the evolution of expectations on professors? This seems like an interesting phenomenon to learn more about, but I'm not quite sure where to start in finding material on this change.

[dv_dt]

This biography on Shannon gives some idea of what it was like in the heyday of Bell Labs. Flamethrowing trumpets are mentioned.

https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Play-Shannon-Invented-Informatio...