Paths of Innovation: Technological Change in 20th-Century America

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Paths of Innovation: Technological Change in 20th-Century America
Authors and Contributors      By (author) David C. Mowery
By (author) Nathan Rosenberg
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:228
Dimensions(mm): Height 229,Width 152
Category/GenreImpact of science and technology on society
Technology - general issues
ISBN/Barcode 9780521646536
ClassificationsDewey:303.4830973
Audience
Tertiary Education (US: College)
Professional & Vocational
General
Illustrations 15 Tables, unspecified; 12 Line drawings, unspecified

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 28 October 1999
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

In 1903 the Wright brothers' airplane travelled a couple of hundred yards. Today fleets of streamlined jets transport millions of people each day to cities worldwide. Between discovery and application, between invention and widespread use, there is a world of innovation, of tinkering, improvement and adaptation. This is the world David Mowery and Nathan Rosenberg map out in Paths of Innovation, a tour of the intersecting routes of technological change. Throughout their book, Mowery and Rosenberg demonstrate that the simultaneous emergence of new engineering and applied science disciplines in the universities, in tandem with growth in the Research and Development industry and scientific research, has been a primary factor in the rapid rate of technological change. Innovation and incentives to develop new, viable processes have led to the creation of new economic resources - which will determine the future of technological innovation and economic growth.

Reviews

"Rosenberg and Mowery are among the nation's premier historians of technical change. They relate the sagas of four technologies--the internal combustion engine, the chemical industry, electric power, and the electronics revolution that followed the invention of the transistor in 1947--and look for patterns that repeat among the details that do not." Boston Globe