Invention and Innovation by Vaclav Smil is a New York Times bestseller that offers a clear-eyed corrective to the overpromises of innovation. It explains the difference between invention and innovation, looks at inventions that failed to dominate as promised, and offers a "wish list" of inventions that we most urgently need to confront the twenty-first century's challenges.

Format: Hardback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 14 February 2023
Publisher: MIT Press Ltd

Tour the History of Human Invention

In this history book from the New York Times-bestselling author of How the World Really Works, Vaclav Smil takes readers on a fascinating journey through the history of human invention. With his clear-eyed perspective, Smil offers a corrective to the overpromises that often accompany innovation, reminding us that even after we have succeeded in introducing an invention, its future may be marked by underperformance, disappointment, demise, or outright harm. Drawing on his vast breadth of scientific and historical knowledge, Smil explains the difference between invention and innovation, and looks at inventions that failed to dominate as promised, as well as those that turned disastrous. He also offers a "wish list" of inventions that we most urgently need to confront the staggering challenges of the twenty-first century. Filled with engaging examples and pragmatic approaches, this book is a sobering account of the folly that so often attends human inge.

A Bill Gates Recommended Book

A Bill Gates recommended book, Invention and Innovation is no exception. Smil's books are marked up with lots of notes that I take while reading. In this book, Smil offers a clear-eyed corrective to the overpromises that accompany innovation, reminding us that even after we have succeeded in introducing an invention, its future may be marked by underperformance, disappointment, demise, or outright harm. Drawing on his vast breadth of scientific and historical knowledge, Smil explains the difference between invention and innovation, and looks at inventions that failed to dominate as promised, as well as those that turned disastrous. He also offers a "wish list" of inventions that we most urgently need to confront the staggering challenges of the twenty-first century. Filled with engaging examples and pragmatic approaches, this book is a sobering account of the folly that so often attends human inge.

The World is Never Finished Catching Up with Vaclav Smil

Vaclav Smil, author of New York Times bestsellers How the World Really Works and Energy and Civilization, is a prolific author who is a favorite of Bill Gates. In Invention and Innovation, Smil offers an insightful and fact-filled jaunt through the history of human invention. Impatient with the hype that so often accompanies innovation, Smil offers a clear-eyed corrective to the overpromises that accompany everything from new cures for diseases to AI. He reminds us that even after we go quite far along the invention-development-application trajectory, we may never get anything real to deploy. Or worse, even after we have succeeded by introducing an invention, its future may be marked by underperformance, disappointment, demise, or outright harm. Drawing on his vast breadth of scientific and historical knowledge, Smil explains the difference between invention and innovation, and looks not only at inventions that failed to dominate as promised (such as the airship, nuclear fission, and supersonic flight), but also at those that turned disastrous (leaded gasoline, DDT, and chlorofluorocarbons). And finally, most importantly, he offers a "wish list" of inventions that we most urgently need to confront the staggering challenges of the twenty-first century.

The Difference Between Invention and Innovation

Smil explains the difference between invention and innovation, and looks at inventions that failed to dominate as promised, as well as those that turned disastrous. He also offers a "wish list" of inventions that we most urgently need to confront the staggering challenges of the twenty-first century. Filled with engaging examples and pragmatic approaches, this book is a sobering account of the folly that so often attends human inge.

Inventions That Failed to Dominate as Promised

Smil looks at inventions that failed to dominate as promised, such as the airship, nuclear fission, and supersonic flight. He reminds us that even after we have succeeded in introducing an invention, its future may be marked by underperformance, disappointment, demise, or outright harm. Drawing on his vast breadth of scientific and historical knowledge, Smil explains the difference between invention and innovation, and looks at inventions that failed to dominate as promised, as well as those that turned disastrous. He also offers a "wish list" of inventions that we most urgently need to confront the staggering challenges of the twenty-first century. Filled with engaging examples and pragmatic approaches, this book is a sobering account of the folly that so often attends human inge.

Inventions That Turned Disastrous

Smil also looks at inventions that turned disastrous, such as leaved gasoline, DDT, and chlorofluorocarbons. He reminds us that even after we have succeeded in introducing an invention, its future may be marked by underperformance, disappointment, demise, or outright harm. Drawing on his vast breadth of scientific and historical knowledge, Smil explains the difference between invention and innovation, and looks at inventions that failed to dominate as promised, as well as those that turned disastrous. He also offers a "wish list" of inventions that we most urgently need to confront the staggering challenges of the twenty-first century. Filled with engaging examples and pragmatic approaches, this book is a sobering account of the folly that so often attends human inge.

A "Wish List" of Inventions That We Most Urgently Need to Confront the Staggering Challenges of the Twenty-First Century

Smil offers a "wish list" of inventions that we most urgently need to confront the staggering challenges of the twenty-first century. Filled with engaging examples and pragmatic approaches, this book is a sobering account of the folly that so often attends human inge.

Weight: 500g
Dimension: 163 x 237 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780262048057