stevenberlinjohnson.com:

So I'm in L.A. for a night, staying in Marina Del Rey, and I decide to head out this morning in search of a Starbucks. I do a little Googlemapping and find one that looks like it's a nice walk away: a stroll along the marina, and then a left turn onto a road about a half a mile down. So I head out, and eventually make my way to the Starbucks, only I'm across the street from it, and there doesn't seem to be a crosswalk nearby. Now, I know you're not supposed to jaywalk in L.A., but I was a little lost in my own thoughts, and besides, this wasn't a freeway I was crossing, it was just an ordinary surface road. And so when the traffic slows down I start walking across the street, almost on autopilot.

After a few seconds, something snaps me out of my reverie, and I look around and realize that the surface road I'm crossing has TEN lanes. I could be wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure there's not a single street -- freeway or not -- in all of New York City with ten lanes. I ended up getting stuck on the median strip for about five minutes, and it felt as though I could have been wearing a sandwich board that said: "Not From Around Here." They should put the Starbucks on the median strip, so you can sit down and catch your breath for a few minutes, before crossing the rest of the street.

(Not to gratuitously L.A. bash -- I should say that it is an spectacular morning here; I woke up to a view of the marina in crystal clear early morning light, with absolutely no wind, and it was transcendent, particularly given that my last day in NYC was spent in one of those horrible March ice pellet storms.)

The Basics

I'm a father of three boys, husband of one wife, and author of seven books, and co-founder of three web sites. We spend most of the year in Marin County, California though I'm on the road a lot giving talks. (You can see the full story here.) Personal correspondence should go to sbeej at earthlink dot net. Media requests should go to Matthew.Venzon at us.penguingroup dot com. If you're interested in having me speak at an event, drop a line to Wesley Neff at the Leigh Bureau (WesN at Leighbureau dot com.)

My Books

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
An exploration of environments that lead to breakthrough innovation, in science, technology, business, and the arts. I conceived it as the closing book in a trilogy on innovative thinking, after Ghost Map and Invention. But in a way, it completes an investigation that runs through all the books. Sold more copies in hardcover than anything else I've written.
The Invention of Air
The story of the British radical chemist Joseph Priestley, who ended up having a Zelig-like role in the American Revolution. My version of a founding fathers book, and a reminder that most of the Enlightenment was driven by open source ideals.
The Ghost Map
The latest: the story of a terrifying outbreak of cholera in 1854 London 1854 that ended up changing the world. An idea book wrapped around a page-turner. I like to think of it as a sequel to Emergence if Emergence had been a disease thriller. You can see a trailer for the book here.
Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter
The title says it all. This one sparked a slightly insane international conversation about the state of pop culture -- and particularly games. There were more than a few dissenters, but the response was more positive than I had expected. And it got me on The Daily Show, which made it all worthwhile.
Mind Wide Open : Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life
My first best-seller, and the only book I've written in which I appear as a recurring character, subjecting myself to a battery of humiliating brain scans. The last chapter on Freud and the neuroscientific model of the mind is one of my personal favorites.
Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
The story of bottom-up intelligence, from slime mold to Slashdot. Probably the most critically well-received all my books, and the one that has influenced the most eclectic mix of fields: political campaigns, web business models, urban planning, the war on terror.
Interface Culture : How New Technology Transforms the Way We Create and Communicate
My first. The book I wrote instead of finishing my dissertation. Still in print almost a decade later, and still relevant, I think. But I haven't read it in a while, so who knows what's in there!

stevenberlinjohnson.com

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