Lillian Hoddeson and Peter Garrett
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780262037532
- eISBN:
- 9780262345033
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262037532.003.0015
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
The conclusion reviews Ovshinsky’s accomplishments and historical significance. Ovshinsky is now gaining mare recognition. In May 2015 he was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of ...
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The conclusion reviews Ovshinsky’s accomplishments and historical significance. Ovshinsky is now gaining mare recognition. In May 2015 he was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. During his lifetime he “saw the future” because he envisioned new possibilities and consequences that others were unable to imagine. His innovations, which began with new amorphous and disordered materials, became the basis for new technological systems capable of changing society for the better. Although he made important scientific discoveries, his work was never a part of normal science, and his inventions were aimed not just at incremental technological advances but at transformational social change. Finally, while the conclusion considers how his career spanned, and to some extent helped bring about, the transition from the industrial to the information age, it also notes his continuing ties with the social and economic culture of his youth.Less
The conclusion reviews Ovshinsky’s accomplishments and historical significance. Ovshinsky is now gaining mare recognition. In May 2015 he was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. During his lifetime he “saw the future” because he envisioned new possibilities and consequences that others were unable to imagine. His innovations, which began with new amorphous and disordered materials, became the basis for new technological systems capable of changing society for the better. Although he made important scientific discoveries, his work was never a part of normal science, and his inventions were aimed not just at incremental technological advances but at transformational social change. Finally, while the conclusion considers how his career spanned, and to some extent helped bring about, the transition from the industrial to the information age, it also notes his continuing ties with the social and economic culture of his youth.