 New patterns of scientific growth: How research expanded after the invention of scanning tunneling microscopy and the discovery of BuckminsterfullerenesThomas Heinze, Richard Heidler, Raphael Heiko Heiberger and Jan Riebling Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2013, vol. 64, issue 4, 829-843 Abstract: This article describes patterns of scientific growth that emerge in response to major research accomplishments in instrumentation and the discovery of new matter. Using two Nobel Prize‐winning contributions, the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and the discovery of Buckminsterfullerenes (BUF), we examine the growth of follow‐up research via citation networks at the author and subdiscipline level. A longitudinal network analysis suggests that structure, cohesiveness, and interdisciplinarity vary considerably with the type of breakthrough and over time. Scientific progress appears to be multifaceted, including not only theoretical advances but also the discovery of new instrumentation and new matter. In addition, we argue that scientific growth does not necessarily lead to the formation of new specialties or new subdisciplines. Rather, we observe the emergence of a research community formed at the intersection of subdisciplinary boundaries. Date: 2013 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jamist:v:64:y:2013:i:4:p:829-843 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article More articles in Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology from Association for Information Science & Technology |
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