  Despite decades of research, the relationship between the quality of science
and the value of inventions has remained unclear. We present the result of a
large-scale matching exercise between 4.8 million patent families and 43
million publication records. We find a strong positive relationship between
quality of scientific contributions referenced in patents and the value of the
respective inventions. We rank patents by the quality of the science they are
linked to. Strikingly, high-rank patents are twice as valuable as low-rank
patents, which in turn are about as valuable as patents without direct science
link. We show this core result for various science quality and patent value
measures. The effect of science quality on patent value remains relevant even
when science is linked indirectly through other patents. Our findings imply
that what is considered "excellent" within the science sector also leads to
outstanding outcomes in the technological or commercial realm.
