This book investigates the causes, course, and consequences of the shift in West German chemical technology from a coal to a petroleum basis between 1945 and 1961. It examines the historical underpinnings of technological culture of the German chemical industry; changing political and economic constraints on technological decision-making in the postwar period; and the actual decision-making process within five individual firms. The study's main importance lies in its detailed portrayal of decision-making within individual chemical firms. By addressing a wide variety of broader issues, as...