This book grows out of a multidisciplinary course we have taught to MIT graduate and undergraduate students for over a decade. The course, “Application of Technology,” is designed to introduce our students to the complex task of applying new technologies for economic, social or environmental purposes. Our goal in the course – and in this book – is to present insights, approaches, and analytical tools that are useful in such situations. This is an especially important subject for students educated in the sciences or engineering disciplines. Although most of these students will encounter complex problems of technology application in the course of their professional careers, their education today is focused on problems within their particular technical discipline. The solution of such problems may be crucial to technology invention and development but only a small part of what is required for successful technology application.

A central theme of this book is that students in the sciences and engineering should recognize the importance of moving away from thinking solely about the creation of new technology to thinking also about its responsible and effective application. Finding the right balance between these two ways of thinking is a fundamental challenge for technology practitioners – and for educators in science and engineering as well.

A second and related challenge is to move from working within the boundaries of a single discipline to integrating across disciplines.