Where Good Ideas Come From

By Steven Johnson,

Book cover of Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation

Book description

A fascinating deep dive on innovation from the New York Times bestselling author of How We Got To Now and Unexpected Life

The printing press, the pencil, the flush toilet, the battery--these are all great ideas. But where do they come from? What kind of environment breeds them? What sparks…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Where Good Ideas Come From as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Sometimes, the most powerful stories are ones that are compellingly proven by history. In this book, Johnson uses a broad range of historical examples—the flush toilet, the pencil, evolution, and so many more—to show a clear pattern of how revolutionary ideas get their start.

His key theses are straightforward, like how ideas often start as a slow hunch that gradually gathers momentum and seemingly suddenly becomes full-fledged. They’re well-proven by his examples. But even if you didn’t terribly care about the principles he puts forward, you’d just love the vivid, elegant writing. It’s a wonderful read.

From Stephen's list on passionate innovators.

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