The Materials Revolution: Superconductors, New Materials and the Japanese Challenge

Three concurrent technological revolutions are likely to dominate the last decade of the twentieth century and the opening years of the twenty-first. Those in information technology and in biotechnology have been extensively written about, but that in new materials has been relatively neglected. "The Materials Revolution" is a comprehensive survey of these new technologies and their impact upon the economy and society. The book brings together articles from both the mainstream press and from the more specialized journals on the latest breakthroughs in superconductors, successors to silicon, high-performance plastics, new kinds of fabric, optical fibres, materials innovation and substitution, seabed materials, the processing of materials in space and the coming era of nanotechnology. In his lengthy introduction Tom Forester outlines the main developments and warns that the West could find itself left behind by the commitment of the Japanese to pioneering and developing the uses of new materials which are likely to revolutionize our lives.

Table of Contents:
Part I The Superconductor Story ; 1 Superconductors! The Startling Breakthrough that Could Change our World Michael D. Lemonick with Thomas McCarroll, J. Madeleine Nash and Dennis Wyss ; 2. Are Superconductors Really that Super? Two Reports from The Economist' and The Boston Globe' ; Part II Materials and Society ; 3. Materials, Year 2000 E.D.Hondros ; 4. Materials in History and Society Melvin Kranzberg and Cyril Stanley Smith ; 5. New Materials Technology in Japan Gene Gregory ; 6. Beyond the Era of Materials Eric D. Larson, Marc H. Ross and Robert H. Williams ; Part III Materials and the Economy ; 7. Advanced Materials and the Economy Joel P. Clark and Merton C. Flemings ; 8. Ceramics Take on Tough Tasks Gordon Graff ; 9. What's Sexier and Speedier than Silicon? Gene Bylinsky ; 10. High Performance Plastics Gordon Graff ; 11. Optical Fibres: Where Light Outperforms Electrons Les C. Gunderson and Donald B. Keck ; 12. Skylines of Fabric Doug Stewart ; Part IV Materials Innovation and Substitution ; 13. The Real Challenge in Materials Engineering Thomas W. Eagar ; 14. Innovation in Materials George F. Ray ; 15. How Critical are Critical Materials? Joel P. Clark and Frank R. Field III ; 16. Material Substitution: Lessons from Tin-Using Industries John E. Tilton ; Part V New Frontiers in Materials ; 17. Looking to the Future in Ceramics W. David Kingery ; 18. Materials Processing in Space Peter Marsh ; 19. Seabed Materials James M. Broadus ; 20. The Coming Era of Nanotechnology K. Eric Drexler ;