Have a look at https://www.amazon.com/Diffusion-Innovations-5th-Everett-Rog... It is not history, but I remember having read it from cover to cover and gaining a historic insight in the process

The book Diffusion of Innovations [1962] has a few case studies about that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations

https://www.amazon.com/Diffusion-Innovations-5th-Everett-Rog...

This is the seminal book on marketing, social cognition, innovation, etc. It blew my mind. Mostly that we've known this stuff for so long, but apparently must keep rediscovering it.

Sounds interesting, and I kinda want to read the book. But... this also sounds a little bit rehashed, as it seems to cover similar ground to what Geoffrey Moore covered in Crossing the Chasm[1], or what Everett Rogers discussed in Diffusion of Innovations.[2]

Nonetheless, I think I'll buy this book and read it, just to see if there's any kernel of novel insight there. After all, for an innovator / entrepreneur, this is one of the most crucial issues out there.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-Marketing-High-Tech-Ma...

[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Diffusion-Innovations-5th-Everett-Rog...

- Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders http://amzn.to/1KWptkR - Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul http://amzn.to/1Mcy70b - Diffusion of Innovations http://amzn.to/1Dy5ZmM - Failure Is Not an Option http://amzn.to/1W8U4BG

There's also stuff under "Network theory"[1] at Wikipedia. I feel like those two articles should probably be merged, but it hasn't happened yet, and I haven't had time to take a stab at it. But anyway, both articles contain some useful info.

I also recommend these few books as a good starting point:

Network Science: Theory and Applications[2]

Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means[3]

Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age[4]

The Wisdom of Crowds[5]

Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks[6]

Diffusion of Innovations[7]

Of course - being that Network Science is a multidisciplinary field, that touches a lot of other areas - it can be hard to get a handle on what to study. But those few books - between them - cover a lot of the basics and would give somebody who's interested in this stuff enough background to figure out where to start digging deeper.

For a little bit more on the technical side, a couple of good resources at:

Introductory Graph Theory[8]

Introduction to Graph Theory[9]

Algorithms in Java: Part 5 - Graph Algorithms[10]

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_theory

[2]: http://www.amazon.com/Network-Science-Applications-Ted-Lewis...

[3]: http://www.amazon.com/Linked-Everything-Connected-Else-Means...

[4]: http://www.amazon.com/Six-Degrees-Science-Connected-Edition/...

[5]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Wisdom-Crowds-James-Surowiecki/dp/...

[6]: http://www.amazon.com/Nexus-Worlds-Groundbreaking-Science-Ne...

[7]: http://www.amazon.com/Diffusion-Innovations-5th-Everett-Roge...

[8]: http://www.amazon.com/Introductory-Graph-Theory-Gary-Chartra...

[9]: http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Graph-Theory-Dover-Mathem...

[10]: http://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Java-Part-Graph-Pt-5/dp/020...