Tim Harford

Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy paints an epic picture of change in an intimate way by telling the stories of the tools, people, and ideas that had far-reaching consequences for all of us. From the plough to artificial intelligence, from Gillette s disposable razor to IKEA s Billy bookcase, bestselling author and Financial Times columnist Tim Harford recounts each invention s own curious, surprising, and memorable story.

50 Inventions that Shaped the Modern Economy

Gavin

Harford is among the best pop science writers. There are shout-outs to Nick Bostrom and other luminaries in this. Harford has a slightly tragic consciousness of backlash and double-effect of some of these (e.g. tetra-ethyl lead).

So easy to read I forgot I had.

Misha

Vivek Chand

Interesting book about inventions that you wouldn’t automatically assume were going to change the way we live. I picked up some ideas for the future too. Worth a read.

Michael Hessling

A good catalog of 50 great ideas. Paper, double bookkeeping, lightbulb; did a good job of bringing everything together (one invention begets another). Was not shy about pointing out that many inventions didn't do us any good (plastics, leaded gasoline). Need for gov't regulations in many things, but also need to be hands off, too. fine line.

Jeffrey Jose

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2017 by BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK, THE FINANCIAL TIMES, AND AMAZON Look out for Tim's next book, The Data Detective. A lively history seen through the fifty inventions that shaped it most profoundly, by the bestselling author of The Undercover Economist and Messy. Who thought up paper money? What was the secret element that made the Gutenberg printing press possible? And what is the connection between The Da Vinci Code and the collapse of Lehman Brothers? Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy paints an epic picture of change in an intimate way by telling the stories of the tools, people, and ideas that had far-reaching consequences for all of us. From the plough to artificial intelligence, from Gillette’s disposable razor to IKEA’s Billy bookcase, bestselling author and Financial Times columnist Tim Harford recounts each invention’s own curious, surprising, and memorable story. Invention by invention, Harford reflects on how we got here and where we might go next. He lays bare often unexpected connections: how the bar code undermined family corner stores, and why the gramophone widened inequality. In the process, he introduces characters who developed some of these inventions, profited from them, and were ruined by them, as he traces the principles that helped explain their transformative effects. The result is a wise and witty book of history, economics, and biography.

50 Inventions that Shaped the Modern Economy

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