How We Got to Now

From refrigeration and clocks to eyeglass lenses, Steven Johnson traces everyday features of modern life back to the hobbyists, amateurs and entrepreneurs who created them, and on to consequences nobody planned. His illustrated history follows chains of connection across unrelated fields: air conditioning made possible a mass migration to cities such as Phoenix and Dubai, pendulum clocks helped set off the industrial revolution, and clean water allowed the manufacture of computer chips. Along the way he recounts a French publisher who built a phonograph before Edison but left out playback, and a Hollywood star whose work fed into Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. A six-part PBS television series, presented by Johnson, accompanies the book.

James Altucher used it to argue against the myth of the lone genius, saying ideas grow out of history, the adjacent possible and particular places, and praising the connections Johnson draws. Bill Gross, founder of Idealab, said the stories unfold almost like a dramatic mystery.