Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital presents a novel interpretation of the good and bad times in the economy, taking a long-term perspective and linking technology and finance in an original and convincing way. Carlota Perez draws upon Schumpeter's theories of the clustering of innovations to explain why each technological revolution gives rise to a paradigm shift and a 'New Economy' and how these 'opportunity explosions', focused on specific industries, also lead to the recurrence of financial bubbles and crises. These findings are illustrated with examples from the past two centuries: the industrial revolution, the age of steam and railways, the age of steel and electricity, the emergence of mass production and automobiles, and the current information revolution/knowledge society. By analyzing the changing relationship between finance capital and production capital during the emergence, diffusion and assimilation of new technologies throughout the global economic system, this seminal book sheds new light on some of the most pressing economic problems of today. A bold interpretation of how the changing relationship between technological advances and financial capital shapes the patterns of economic cycles, this path-breaking book will provide essential insights for business leaders, policymakers, academics and others concerned with managing change in the world economy.

This volume collects 50 stories of gardening invention, innovation and discovery. Among them is that of Thomas Hyl, who in 1577 devised the first water sprinkler; Nathaniel Ward who began a craze for indoor gardening in 1829 with his terrarium case; and Henry Telende, who in 1720 grew England's first pineapple. From the invention of the trellis, flower pots and the waterscrew in the ancient world; via secateurs, jute string and flame guns in the Victorian age; to the Gro-Bag and Flymo of modern times, the ingenious achievements make an inspiring international collection.

Cell phone apps share location information; software companies store user data in the cloud; biometric scanners read fingerprints; employees of some businesses have microchips implanted in their hands. In each of these instances we trade a share of privacy or an aspect of identity for greater convenience or improved security. What Robert M. Pallitto asks in Bargaining with the Machine is whether we are truly making such bargains freely - whether, in fact, such a transaction can be conducted freely or advisedly in our ever more technologically sophisticated world. Pallitto uses the social theory of bargaining to look at the daily compromises we make with technology. Specifically, he explores whether resisting these 'bargains' is still possible when the technologies in question are backed by persuasive, even coercive, corporate and state power. Who, he asks, is proposing the bargain? What is the balance of bargaining power? What is surrendered and what is gained? And are the perceived and the actual gains and losses the same - that is, what is hidden? At the center of Pallitto's work is the paradox of bargaining in a world of limited agency. Assurances that we are in control are abundant whether we are consumers, voters, or party to the social contract. But when purchasing goods from a technological behemoth like Amazon, or when choosing a candidate whose image is crafted and shaped by campaign strategists and media outlets, how truly free, let alone informed, are our choices? The tension between claims of agency and awareness of its limits is the site where we experience our social lives - and nowhere is this tension more pronounced than in the surveillance society. This book offers a cogent analysis of how that complex, contested, and even paradoxical experience arises as well as an unusually clear and troubling view of the consequential compromises we may be making.

With recent advancements in electronics, specifically nanoscale devices, new technologies are being implemented to improve the properties of automated systems. However, conventional materials are failing due to limited mobility, high leakage currents, and power dissipation. To mitigate these challenges, alternative resources are required to advance electronics further into the nanoscale domain. Carbon nanotube field-effect transistors are a potential solution yet lack the information and research to be properly utilized. Major Applications of Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistors (CNTFET) is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of converting semiconductor devices from micron technology to nanotechnology. The book provides readers with an updated status on existing CNTs, CNTFETs, and their applications and examines practical applications to minimize short channel effects and power dissipation in nanoscale devices and circuits. While highlighting topics including interconnects, digital circuits, and single-wall CNTs, this book is ideally designed for electrical engineers, electronics engineers, students, researchers, academicians, industry professionals, and practitioners working in nanoscience, nanotechnology, applied physics, and electrical and electronics engineering.

The book addresses optimization in the petroleum industry from a practical, large-scale-application-oriented point of view. The models and techniques presented help to optimize the limited resources in the industry in order to maximize economic benefits, ensure operational safety, and reduce environmental impact. The book discusses several important real-life applications of optimization in the petroleum industry, ranging from the scheduling of personnel time to the blending of gasoline. It covers a wide spectrum of relevant activities, including drilling, producing, maintenance, and distribution. The text begins with an introductory overview of the petroleum industry and then of optimization models and techniques. The main body of the book details a variety of applications of optimization models and techniques within the petroleum industry. Applied  Optimization in the Petroleum Industry helps readers to find effective optimization-based solutions to their own practical problems in a large and important industrial sector, still the main source of the world’s energy and the source of raw materials for a wide variety of industrial and consumer products.