Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 October 2002
After the desciption of the Perrin process in the first part of the paper, the second part deals with the socio-technical and enterprise aspects of the history of this process. The development block concept is used to analyse the different phenomena explaining the fate of this technical invention. The critical role played by Perrin himself is emphasized. The reasons why, despite favourable enterpreneurial conditions, the process was not more widely used are discussed.