Overview

Exponential Explosions of Technology: Innovations That Changed the World by Joseph W. Goodman explores how technological progress across diverse fields has followed—and often still follows—exponential trajectories. It begins by explaining the mathematics and meaning of exponential growth, then traces the phenomenon through more than twenty major domains of science and engineering. The book weaves together advances in electronics, energy, communications, biotechnology, food production, and land transportation, revealing how compounding innovation has transformed human capability. It highlights the accelerating improvements in computing power, data storage, imaging, energy production, medical discovery, and artificial intelligence, alongside real-world consequences such as cheaper renewable energy, more powerful neural networks, and the rise of electric vehicles. In its later chapters, it investigates why exponential growth is so pervasive, and what natural, physical, and economic limits might eventually constrain it. Through quantitative data and historical analysis, the book offers a panoramic view of how exponential technological change continues to reshape civilization.

Full Product Details

Author:   Joseph W. Goodman
Publisher:   SPIE Press
Imprint:   SPIE Press
ISBN:  

9781510697676

ISBN 10:   1510697675
Pages:   168
Publication Date:   06 February 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

What is Exponential Growth? Moore’s Law: The Number of Transistors on an Integrated Circuit The Number of Floating-Point Operations Performed by a GPU Solid-State Memory Capacity and Bandwidth Koomey’s Law: Computations per kWh of Energy The Evolution of Camera Sensors Swanson’s Law: The Cost of One Watt of Solar Power Solar and Wind Power Generation Keck’s Law: Data Rates in Optical Fiber Mobile Network Speed Kryder’s Law: The Number of Bits Stored on a Magnetic Disk Haitz’s Law: The Brightness and Cost of Illumination The Energy Density of Lithium-Ion Batteries 3D Printing Resolution The Aperture Size of Telescopes The Energies of Particle Accelerators The Accuracy of Time Keeping Technology’s Impact on Food Production Technology’s Impact on Land Transportation Speed Eroom’s Law: The Number of New Drugs Produced per $1B of R&D Genome Sequencing Costs Innovations in Vaccine Science and Technology The Development of Antibiotics Growth of Social Media Growth of Capability of Artificial Neural Networks The Electric Vehicle Renaissance Why is Exponential Growth of Technology So Common? What Limits Exponential Growth?

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