stevenberlinjohnson.com: Invention Roundup

Great morning for Invention of Air reviews. This week's Newsweek examines the case for Priestley as a "lost Founding Father" and comes away convinced by the book's argument. The Dallas Morning News says that the book gives "plenty of life" to the full scope of Priestley career, beyond his contested oxygen discovery. Simon Goldie has a very flattering blog review of the book that tries to put Invention in the context of my other books, which is always fun to see. Nick Gillespie, editor of Reason, writes a lovely review for the New York Post, that ends with lines that I think capture exactly why I think the story is so relevant now:

We live in troubling times, filled with signs of a great economic apocalypse, politicized science on topics from birth control to climate change and religious zealots who kill innocents rather than live peacefully with them. This is exactly the moment to learn from Priestley, who survived riots, threats of prosecution and other hardships and yet never doubted that "the world was headed naturally toward an increase in liberty and understanding." Ironically, "The Invention of Air" underscores that there is nothing natural about progress and liberty, each of which must be fought for and defended every single day by visionary individuals.

And perhaps most excitingly -- for my Amazon sales rank, at least -- there's a long rave review on the front door of Daily Kos right now, called "Blogging In The 18th Century." It pleases me to no end that libertarians and progressives are both finding something resonant in the story.

Also, lots of folks seem to be linking to the Science Friday conversation; you can hear it online here.

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!

Comments

Thanks for your work. I'll be exploring your efforts. I came here after reading the Daily Kos post by Devilstower, then I linked to the interview on Science Friday.
Are you familiar with the writing of Dengre on Daily Kos? He is the publications director at Green America, doing yeoman's work as a hobby on the Abramoff scandal. Your work seems to be in the same vein, even if it's coming from different places.
Onward to more liberty and understanding. Thanks again. Off to outside.in.

Posted by: Gary Parham | January 04, 2009 at 05:31 PM

I subscribed to your blog when is the next post

Posted by: Prada Handbag | November 08, 2009 at 11:30 PM