Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation [Paperback]

A fascinating deep dive on innovation from theNew York Timesbestselling author ofHow We Got To NowandFarsighted

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 the flash of brilliance? How do we generate the breakthrough technologies that push forward our lives, our society, our culture? Steven Johnson's answers are revelatory as he identifies the seven key patterns behind genuine innovation, and traces them across time and disciplines. From Darwin and Freud to the halls of Google and Apple, Johnson investigates the innovation hubs throughout modern time and pulls out the approaches and commonalities that seem to appear at moments of originality.Steven Johnsonis the bestselling author ofFuture Perfect,Where Good Ideas Come From,The Invention of Air,The Ghost Map, and Everything Bad is Good for You, and is the editor ofThe Innovator's Cookbook. He is the founder of a variety of influential websites and writes forTime,Wired, TheNew York Times, andThe Wall Street Journal. He lives in Marin County, California, with his wife and three sons.

Introduction

REEF, CITY, WEB
 

—SHAKESPEARE,A Midsummer Night’s Dream, V.i.14-17

Darwin’s Paradox

April 4, 1836. Over the eastern expanse of the Indian Ocean, the reliable northeast winds of monsoon season have begun to give way to the serene days of summer. On the Keeling Islands, two small atolls composed of twenty-seven coral islands six hundred miles west of Sumatra, the emerald waters are invitingly placid ló