# Where Good Ideas Come From: the Natural History of Innovation

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/books/good-ideas-come-natural-history-innovation/
- Published: 2018-07-16T11:42:02+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Steven Johnson, the author of Everything Bad is Good for You, argues that ‘Eureka!’
moments are seldom what they appear to be. In this book he explores the secrets 
of inspiration.**

Given today’s technology he argues that “radical innovation is extraordinarily accessible
to those who know how to cultivate it.”

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.

Watch author Steven Johnson explain where good ideas come from in this TED talk 
in Oxford.