In this paper we consider the spread of modern technological innovations. We contrast social learning and threshold heterogeneity models of innovation diffusion, and show how the typical temporal evolution of the distribution of adopters may be consistent with either explanation. Noting the likelihood that each model contains some useful independent explanatory power, we introduce a combined mo...

Understanding the connections between magnetism and electricity and exploiting that understanding for technological innovation dominated science in the nineteenth century, and yet no one saw it coming. In the index to Butterfield’s classic history of the scientific revolution [3], which he locates roughly from 1300 to 1800, the word “electricity” does not appear. Nobody in 1800 could have imagi...

Diffusion of innovations is a theory profound by Everett Rogers that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. Rogers argues that diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated over time among the participants in a social system. For Rogers (2003), adoption is a decision of “full use of an innovation as the best course of action available” and...

In this study, we examine technology adoption by integrating it with technological evolution. We trace both the technology evolution S-curve, which represents changes in performance of key components over time, and the emergence of dominant designs, which represents changes in the architecture over time. We highlight the importance of differentiating three aspects of dominant designs: component...

We introduce a new model for examining the dynamics of uptake of technological innovations in agricultural systems, using the adoption of zero-till wheat in the rice-wheat system in Haryana state, India, as a case study. A new equation is derived which describes the dynamics of adoption over time and takes into account the effect of aggregation (e.g. on a spatial and/or cultural basis) in the a...

ExpertEyes is a low-cost, open-source package of hardware and software that is designed to provide portable high-definition eyetracking. The project involves several technological innovations, including portability, high-definition video recording, and multiplatform software support. It was designed for challenging recording environments, and all processing is done offline to allow for optimiza...

Openness and Technological Innovations in Developing Countries: Evidence from Firm-Level Surveys This paper examines international technology transfers using firm-level data across 43 developing countries. Our findings show that exporting and importing activities are important channels for the transfer of technology. Majority foreign-owned firms are less likely to engage in technological innova...

Social and technological innovations often spread through social networks as people respond to what their neighbors are doing. Previous research has identified specific network structures, such as local clustering, that promote rapid diffusion. Here we derive bounds that are independent of network structure and size, such that diffusion is fast whenever the payoff gain from the innovation is su...

Knowledge in medicine has always depended on the investigative tools available at any given time. This explains that our understanding of pathophysiology has most often progressed by frog leaps, reflecting the successive technological innovations bestowed upon the various fields of medicine, such as ours. The integration of new technological innovations normally follows a standard process where...

The endeavor for technological innovation is a persistent parameter throughout human history. Because of their resonance, antiquated paradigms may facilitate our search for new ones. In this essay I suggest that the ancient Museum of Alexandria, with its emphasis on the ongoing dialogue among the Muses, can serve as inspiration to the virtual museums that are being established in cyberspace. Co...