The article retraces the social and institutional circumstances that in 1986 led two
researchers at the IBM laboratory near Zurich, Müller and Bednorz, to discover high-temperature superconductivity. After confirmation of the unexpected breakthrough an
unprecedented mobilization of research groups all over the world took place while simul
taneously high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) turned into a subject of intense
media interest. The authors discuss these events under three perspectives: the closer
interlinkage capacity of researchers and the relationship between the social organization
of research and unforeseen cases of scientific creativity.
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