First published way back in 1962, this fifth edition of the classic study of the social, technological and political influences on the mechanisms by which innovation are shared and penetrate markets includes a wealth of new insights. Alongside many of the original studies of the diffusion of such developments as pesticide use in Iowa, treatments for scurvy in the British Navy, the hypodermic needle, the concept of the kindergarten and the use of snowmobiles is a host of revealing cases based on more recent developments: From mobile phone adoption in Finland, global internet usage and electric cars through to the oral re-hydration therapy campaign in Egypt, the publishing success of ‘Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood’, and the adoption of Hate Crime laws in the US, multiple new examples are used to reflect on and reinforce many of the original concepts: The role of change agents and opinion leaders, adoption theory, virtual networks, critical mass and the transfer of knowledge are all reappraised to give a new lease of life to this authoritative text.