Online ordering will be unavailable from 07:00 GMT to 17:00 GMT on Sunday, June 15.

To place an order, please contact Customer Services.

UK/ROW directcs@cambridge.org +44 (0) 1223 326050 | US customer_service@cambridge.org 1 800 872 7423 or 1 212 337 5000 | Australia/New Zealand enquiries@cambridge.edu.au 61 3 86711400 or 1800 005 210, New Zealand 0800 023 520

Our systems are now restored following recent technical disruption, and we’re working hard to catch up on publishing. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. Find out more

Recommended product

Popular links

Popular links


After the Breakthrough

After the Breakthrough

After the Breakthrough

The Emergence of High-Temperature Superconductivity as a Research Field
Helga Nowotny , Universität Wien, Austria
Ulrike Felt , Universität Wien, Austria
August 2002
Available
Paperback
9780521524797

Looking for an inspection copy?

This title is not currently available for inspection.

£40.00
GBP
Paperback
USD
eBook

    The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity was hailed as a major scientific breakthrough, inducing an unprecedented 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 analyse 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 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. The industrial connection and the general belief in promises of future applications were important elements in strategies devised to obtain funding. A remarkable factor in this process was the media's role. The sustained attention that followed the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity resulted in it being seen as the symbol of a new technological frontier.

    • First academic study of the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity
    • This development was one of the most significant and important discoveries of the past decade

    Reviews & endorsements

    '… a very clear story of a scientific discovery and its impact on science policy.' Pierre Papon, Research Policy

    '… thoughtful book.' John Ziman, Nature

    See more reviews

    Product details

    August 2002
    Paperback
    9780521524797
    224 pages
    236 × 191 × 18 mm
    0.43kg
    2 b/w illus. 2 tables
    Available

    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.
      Authors
    • Helga Nowotny , Universität Wien, Austria
    • Ulrike Felt , Universität Wien, Austria