After the Breakthrough: The Emergence of High-Temperature Superconductivity as a Research Field / Edition 1

by Helga Nowotny, Ulrike Felt

Overview

The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity was hailed as a major scientific breakthrough, inducing an unprecedented wave of excitement and expectation among the scientific community and in the international press. This book sets this research breakthrough in context, and reconstructs the history of the discovery. The authors analyze the emergence of this new research field and the way its development was shaped by scientists and science policy makers. They also examine the various institutional and national settings in which the research was undertaken as well as considering the scientific backgrounds and motivations of researchers who entered the field following the original discovery.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521524797
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/22/2002
Edition description:	First Paperback Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	7.52(w) x 9.29(h) x 0.71(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: the emergence of a new research field; 2. The context of the discovery; 3. Reconfiguring actors and knowledge: the organization of a new research field; 4. Academic research, science policy, and the industrial connection: setting up national high-temperature superconductivity programs; 5. Science and the media: newspapers and their 'HTS story'; 6. The innovation machinery of science: the case of HTS; Bibliography.

Editorial Reviews

"This book is a case study that will be of long-term value to scientists, science policy makers and those interested in understanding hoe their interactions with the media and public have changed." Simon Foner, Physics Today

"Perils of a Restless Planet is exciting reading. It would be superb for a lower-division course emphasizing the methodologies of science and engineering, the importance of humility in the face of natural powers and the value of good design." Paul P. Craig, Physics Today

From the Publisher