Pasquale Capo Aug 15, 2006:

Anna, I am thinking that the original might have been badly translated into Italian. Is it possible that the original phrase would be the following" the progress of science is based on trading knowledge not goods" this would explain the original thought.

Anna Strowe (asker) Aug 15, 2006:

Final translation I'm still trying to find out the correct English version for this: I've got two posts on different economics/sociology websites, and I sent an email to Prof. Sen's secretary. The second looks like it won't work out; she says he's travelling until mid-September, and I have to send the translation on August 20th, but I'm hoping that the first will get me something. If not, this is the translation that I'll put in (with a note that it's translated from the Italian):

"The progress of science is based on the sharing of knowledge, not on commerce."

I wanted a concise way to indicate business arrangements and financial dealings, and I didn't want to stray too far from the Italian, since the Italian is already a translation.

If you are still curious, please feel free to email me.

Again, thank you to everyone who posted an answer, comment, or note.

Anna

Anna Strowe (asker) Aug 8, 2006:

I haven't been able to find anything of this quote on the internet, and when I contacted the client through the PM, they just said to translate the sentence myself from the Italian instead of telling me where it was from.

P.L.F. Persio Aug 8, 2006:

Quella frase è di Amartya Sen, premio Nobel per l'economia indiano, che sicuramente ha scritto quella frase in inglese. Sarebbe bello sapere dove trovare l'originale...

Anna Strowe (asker) Aug 8, 2006:

Unfortunately the times it has come up in the Kudoz glossary it was always in a pretty strict business context, so the translations offered have been quite business-like. I'm sort of looking for something which captures the same idea but is a little less... blunt and a little more pretty.

Ivana UK Aug 8, 2006:

Hi there - if you check the Kudoz glossary you'll find that this term has come up several times in the past. I'm sure that one of the answers will be appropriate!