The term entrepreneur, used in contemporary economics, has a variety of meanings. Hebert and Link trace the historical roots of this diversity and propose an operational definition of entrepreneurship for current economic use. The volume's unique historial perspective spans the period from the first systematic presentation in 1755 to the present. By reviewing the contexts in which entrepreneurship has flourished, the authors are able to judge its record of successes and failures. Prospects for future manifestations of the entrepreneur are then clarified and assessed. As a part of this analysis, they discuss such issues as the historical conceptions of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship in ecconomic theory, the role of the entrepreneur in innovation, and popular notions of the entrepreneur.