Jonathan Coopersmith, Faxed: The Rise and Fall of the Fax Machine. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015. 320 pp. ISBN 978-1421415918

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From Materials Science to Nanotechnology: Institutions, Communities, and Disciplines at Cornell University, 1960-2000

During the last several decades, interdisciplinary research centers have emerged as a standard, powerful tool for federal funding of university research. This paper contends that this organizational model can be traced to the ‘‘Interdisciplinary Laboratories’’ program funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1960. The novelty of the IDL program was that it created a peer group of university laboratories with sustained funding to ensure their institutional stability. The Cornell Materials Science Center, one of the first three Interdisciplinary Laboratories, served as a breeding ground for a new community of engineering faculty members, who subsequently helped establish a series of interdisciplinary research centers at Cornell, including the National Research and Resource Facility for Submicron Structures (or National Submicron Facility) in 1977. The Materials Science Center and National Submicron Facility provided explicit models for the expansion and coordination of networks of interdisciplinary centers, both within single universities (such as Cornell) and across multiple campuses (through programs such as the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network and the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers). The center model has proved both flexible and durable in the face of changing demands on universities. By examining the Materials Science Center and the National Submicron Facility, we show that recent institutional developments perceived as entirely novel have their roots in the high Cold War years

Les secrets de la Silicon Valley ou les entreprises américaines de microélectronique face à l'incertitude technique

International audienceSilicon Valley secrets, or US microelectronics firms faced with technical uncertainty Semiconductor firms developed several organizational strategies to manage technological uncertainty since the 1950s. Over this period, they faced three types of technological uncertainty: cognitive uncertainty (how do devices and processes really work?), material uncertainty (how do electronic materials behave?), and prospective uncertainty (where is microelectronics technology going?). In the 1950s and early 1960s, they looked for the right balance between fundamental research and trial-and-error engineering to reduce these forms of technological uncertainty. As a new wave of innovation in microelectronics occurred in the second half of the 1960s, semiconductor firms clustered in industrial districts such as Silicon Valley to get ready access to the latest developments in microelectronics technology. Perhaps the most innovative intellectual and organizational tool that semiconductor engineering managers developed to manage technological uncertainty was in the area of technology forecasting: Moore's Law and the technology roadmaps for semiconductors. These tools, developed from the 1970s to the early 1990s, were largely directed to issues of prospective uncertainty. Moore's Law offered a useful method to guide technology investments. The pursuit of Moore's Law was later institutionalized by technology roadmapping exercises, particularly the National Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. The roadmaps helped semiconductor manufacturers and their suppliers manage uncertainty and coordinate their research and development efforts. The organizational strategies initiated by the semiconductor industry to reduce technological uncertainty have been employed by other high tech sectors such as biotechnology, nanotechnology and the photovoltaic industry since the 1990s

The Long History of Molecular Electronics: Microelectronics Origins of Nanotechnology

Long before nanotechnology, the semiconductor industry was miniaturizing microelectronic components. Since the late 1950s, that industry's dominant material has been silicon. Yet there have always been competitors to silicon that supporters hope will upend the semiconductor industry. It is impossible to understand this industry without a more complete picture of these alternatives — how they come about, how they capture organizational support, why they fail. It is equally impossible to understand nanotechnology without a focus on these alternatives, since research communities devoted to perfecting them today form the backbone of the nanotechnology field. We trace the history of the longest lived silicon alternative — molecular electronics. Molecular electronics arose in the late 1950s as a visionary program conducted by westinghouse on behalf of the air force. We attribute its failure to the difficulties inherent in matching a futuristic vision to a bureaucratically accountable, incremental program that could compete with silicon. Molecular electronics reappeared again at ibm in the 1970s and at the naval research laboratory in the 1980s. In each of these incarnations, molecular electronics' charismatic champions failed to gain the organizational support to make it a mainstream technology. Only at the turn of the century, with new nanotechnology institutions and new models of industry—university collaboration, has some form of molecular electronics neared acceptance by the semiconductor industry

Carbon and nitrogen status by decay class in fallen dead wood of three pine species in southern Korea

AbstractThe importance of a quantitative assessment of C and N contents of dead wood is increasing in forest ecosystems. This study aimed to determine the density and carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) status of dead wood with decay class for three pine species (Pinus densiflora, Pinus rigida, and Pinus koraiensis) in southern Korea. The C concentration in dead wood was significantly different among species (P. densiflora, 50.31%; P. koraiensis, 47.22%; P. rigida, 44.96%), whereas decay class did not affect the C concentration (p > 0.05). The density and C content of dead wood in all species decreased with increasing decay class. The N concentrations of dead wood increased more rapidly in P. rigida and P. koraiensis than in P. densiflora, with an increasing decay class. Thus, the N content of dead wood was unchanged or increased in P. rigida and P. koraiensis, whereas that of P. densiflora decreased because of density reduction with increasing decay class. Our results indicate that the unchanged, increased, or decreased status of C and N in dead wood depends on the species and decay class

Improved electrochemical properties of linear carbonate-containing electrolytes using fluoroethylene carbonate in Na4Fe3(PO4)2(P2O7)/Na cells

Sodium-ion batteries (NIBs) have attracted considerable attention as promising next-generation rechargeable batteries, especially for large-scale energy storage systems (ESS), because of the natural abundance of Na and the similarities of these batteries to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Much effort has been made to improve the electrochemical performances of NIBs through the development of high-performance cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes. One efficient and desirable strategy for practical applications of NIBs is to utilize materials that are adopted in commercialized LIBs. Electrolytes in most studies are composed of polar solvents such as ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC). Accordingly, instead of conventional polyethylene (PE) membranes, glass fiber filters (GFF), which easily uptake polar solvents, have been used as separators. However, the too thick, mechanically weak, and porous GFF is not suitable as a separator because it can reduce the volumetric energy density and cannot guarantee the safety of batteries. In this study, for the introduction ofa PE separator into NIBs, the inclusion of linear carbonate as a cosolvent was attempted, motivated by the fact that this material has been widely used owing to its low viscosity and good compatibility with conventional PE separators. However, due to their high reactivity toward Na metal electrodes in half cells, linear carbonate-containing electrolytes are not electrochemically stable at Na4Fe3(PO4)2(P2O7) cathodes during cycling. Undesirable reactions between linear carbonates and Na metal electrodes are examined using 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and possible mechanisms for the detrimental effect of byproducts formed by linear carbonate decomposition at the Na metal electrode on the cathode are proposed. To alleviate severe decomposition of linear carbonates at the Na metal electrode, fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) has been exploited as a functional additive. Our investigation reveals that remarkable enhancement in electrochemical properties of electrolytes with linear carbonates in Na4Fe3(PO4)2(P2O7)/Na half cells is achieved in the presence of FEC additive