A comprehensive treatment of the economic and global impacts ofthe advanced materials industryThis book represents the first comprehensive investigation ofthe emerging international advanced materials industry and itsprofound impact on the world's industrialized and newly emergingeconomies. It examines the ways in which science, technology,business, and markets have converged to produce one of the mostdynamic industries in recent years--one that is increasinglycontrolling global technological progress as a whole.From the unique vantage point of this crucial industry, thisbook illuminates the major differences in how the world's twoeconomic superpowers--the United States and the EuropeanUnion--perceive and carry forward the technology creationprocess and what these differences mean for achieving national andregional competitive advantage in the twenty-first century. Itdraws upon a rich body of source materials spanning from 1970through 2007 as well as actual in-depth interviews and internalcorporate and governmental documentation. The book is organizedthematically, with each section highlighting critical perspectiveson the rise of the international advanced materials industry andits impact on the relative competitiveness of the United States andthe European Union. It concludes with a discussion of how what wehave learned about advanced materials in the West tells us of thefuture competitive power of an emerging Asia.The Advanced Materials Revolution is essential reading forresearchers, executives, and managers working in the advancedmaterials and related technological fields, as well asprofessionals and scholars in the academic, investment, consulting,and government communities. It also serves as a valuable case studytextbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses inbusiness, management, entrepreneurship, technology studies,chemical and materials engineering, economics, economic history,and regional and economic development.

PART I: ADVANCED MATERIALS, PAST & PRESENT.Introduction: Advanced Materials in A Global World.Chapter 1: The Coming of The Advanced Materials Revolution.PART II: OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS.Chapter 2: A Great Potential - Markets and Society.Chapter 3: The Great Divide -- Advanced Materials, Productivity,and Economic Growth.Chapter 4: Facing Reality - The Risk Factor In The World OfAdvanced Materials.PART III: CREATION: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.Chapter 5: Research And Development I: The American Context.Chapter 6: Research And Development Ii: The EuropeanContext.PART IV: A WIDER CONTEXT: THE SEAMLESS WEB.Chapter 7: The Seamless Web I: Corporations, Universities,Incubators and Start Ups.Chapter 8: The Seamless Web II: Signaling, Selection, andFocusing Mechanisms - SMEs, Entrepreneurs, and Venture Capital.PART V: ORGANIZING GROWTH: CLUSTERS AND GATEKEEPERS.Chapter 9: The Localization of Economic Growth: "Clustering,"Synergies, And Advanced Materials.Chapter 10: The American Touch: "Gatekeepers" And CreativeClusters.Chapter 11: Conclusion - Broadening Horizons.