In Engines of Innovation, Holden Thorp and Buck Goldstein make the case for the pivotal role of research universities as agents of societal change. They argue that universities must use their vast intellectual and financial resources to confront global challenges such as climate change, extreme poverty, childhood diseases, and an impending worldwide shortage of clean water.Combining their own experiences cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset within one of the nation's elite public universities with detailed descriptions of the approaches taken by others, Thorp and Goldstein provide not only an urgent call to action but also a practical guide for our nation's leading institutions to become major players in solving the world's biggest problems. The result is a provocative and thoughtful beginning to an important conversation among educators, their supporters and trustees, policymakers, and the public at large as to how the American research university can best meet its societal responsibilities.

在《创新的引擎》一书中，霍尔顿·索普（Holden Thorp）和巴克·戈尔茨坦（Buck Goldstein）阐述了研究型大学作为社会变革推动者的关键作用。他们认为，大学必须利用其巨大的智力和财政资源来应对气候变化、极端贫困、儿童疾病、，以及世界范围内即将出现的清洁水短缺。结合他们自己在美国一所顶尖公立大学培养创业精神的经验，以及其他人采取的方法的详细描述，索普和戈尔茨坦不仅紧急呼吁采取行动，而且为我们国家的主要机构成为解决世界上最大问题的主要参与者提供了实际指导。其结果是，教育工作者、他们的支持者和受托人、决策者和公众之间就美国研究型大学如何最好地履行其社会责任展开了一场具有挑衅性和深思熟虑的重要对话。