This volume provides an overview of current research in the history of Italian technology in the long run, from the early Middle Ages to the 20th century. The contributors focus on different aspects of Italian creativity in a local, transnational and global dimension, tracing the trajectory from primacy to relative decline. The themes range from the creation and establishment of new technologies in laboratories or enterprises, the processes of learning, diffusion, and copying and the institutions involved in the generation of a national technological capability and innovation system. Comparative studies are included in order to illustrate special features of the Italian case. The industries covered in this volume range from silk, iron and steel production, to electricity generation and telecommunications.Special Issue: Italian Technology from the Renaissance to the 20th CenturyEdited by Anna Guagnini and Luca MolaIncluded in this volume:Inventors, Patents and the Market for Innovations in Renaissance ItalyThe Microcosm: Technological Innovation and the Transfer of Mechanical Knowledge in the Habsburg Empire of the Sixteenth centuryDiamonds in Early Modern Venice: Technology, Products and International CompetitionA Global Supremacy. The Worldwide Hegemony of the Piedmontese Reeling Technologies, 1720s-1830sRaw Materials, Transmission of Know-How and Ceramic Techniques in Early Modern Italy: a Mediterranean perspectiveAnabaptist Migration and the Diffusion of the Maiolica from Faenza to Central Europe A Bold Leap into Electric Light. The Creation of the Società Italiana Edison, 1880-1886Keeping Abreast with the Technology of Science. The Economic Life of the Physics Laboratory at the University of Padua, 1847-1857Mechanics “Made in Italy”: Innovation and Expertise Evolution. A Case Study from the Packaging Industry, 1960-98Telecommunications Italian Style. The shaping of the constitutive choices (1850-1914)Beyond the Myth of the Self-taught Inventor. The Learning Process and Formative Years of Young Guglielmo Marconi Technology Transfer, Economic Strategies and Politics in the Building of the First Italian Submarine Telegraph Lights and Shades: Italian Innovation Across the CenturiesEuropean Steel vs Chinese Cast-iron: From Technological Change to Social and Political Choices (4th Century BC-18th Century AD)The Italian National Innovation System. A Long Term Perspective, 1861-2011