Overview
- The reader is introduced to constructing network diagrams and matrices for history of invention
- Seven case studies on the social network nature of innovation and invention bring the topic to life for the audience
- Mathematical measures of social networks are applied to history of invention
- New insights on the social nature of invention of steam engine, internal combustion engine, aviation, radio etc. will be of interest to students, researchers and practitioners as well as historians
Part of the book series: History of Mechanism and Machine Science (HMMS, volume 22)
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book integrates history of science and technology with modern social network theory. Using examples from the history of machines, as well as case studies from wireless, radio and chaos theory, the author challenges the genius model of invention. Network analysis concepts are presented to demonstrate the societal nature of invention in areas such as steam power, internal combustion engines, early aviation, air conditioning and more. Using modern measures of network theory, the author demonstrates that the social networks of invention from the 19th and early 20th centuries have similar characteristics to modern 21st C networks such as the World Wide Web. The book provides evidence that exponential growth in technical innovation is linked to the growth of historical innovation networks.
Authors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Social Networks in the History of Innovation and Invention
Authors: Francis C. Moon
Series Title: History of Mechanism and Machine Science
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7528-2
Publisher: Springer Dordrecht
eBook Packages: Engineering, Engineering (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
Hardcover ISBN: 978-94-007-7527-5Published: 04 December 2013
Softcover ISBN: 978-94-024-0121-9Published: 23 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-94-007-7528-2Published: 19 November 2013
Series ISSN: 1875-3442
Series E-ISSN: 1875-3426
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 196
Number of Illustrations: 88 b/w illustrations
Topics: Machinery and Machine Elements, History of Science, Complexity, Methodology of the Social Sciences