Where good ideas come from: the natural history of innovation/Steven Johnson 325 pg.A very interesting book that discusses the way in which big ideas are "hatched" and how we tend to think that there is a "eureka" moment but in real life, there is often years of "peculation" before something really takes hold and becomes real. Steven Johnson has done a lot of work studying good ideas and how they came about. He also looked at how things work in the natural world and related how some scientific discoveries were made about the elegance of mother nature's solution. I was particularly taken by his idea of "the adjacent possible". Most innovation comes right at the edge of what is currently in place and that makes sense when you think about it. Historically, if you came up with something "too far" out, it might take years and years before technology progressed and made you idea "actually possible". Charles Babbage was one of those guys...he basically invented the computer but in the 19th century there weren't any good parts to make it from so he designed a mechanical version. Yes, it actually worked but to look at it is to understand steam punk. Anyway, this was a very interesting book that made me want to continue puttering on some things I've been thinking about for years...the pay off can certainly still come after all these years, in fact, that is the more common way that progress is made.
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