Book of the week: Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson

(Riverhead, $26.95)

In his latest book, Steven Johnson examines great discoveries in history to discern what factors spawn innovation, said Bruce Ramsey in The Seattle Times. Though many inventors can pinpoint an “aha” moment, most good ideas apparently “don’t hatch fully formed, like Athena out of the skull of Zeus.” Innovation usually blossoms instead from what Johnson calls “the slow hunch.” Drawing on various fascinating anecdotes, the author also argues that most big ideas aren’t generated by proprietary research. He says ideas more often spring up in open environments—such as those existing in universities—where “different people, and even different fields, are rapidly banging against one another.” But while Johnson is probably right that the corporate world is a less-than-ideal petri dish for incubating radically new ideas, he gives market forces too little credit for their ability to convert fresh innovations into “useful tools.”

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