Search results for ""author steven johnson""

Innovation starts with a problem whose solution sets in motion all kinds of unexpected discoveries. That’s why you can draw a line from pendulums to punching the clock at a factory, from ice blocks to summer movie blockbusters, from clean water to computer chips. In the lively storytelling style that has made him a popular, bestselling author, Steven Johnson looks at how accidental genius, brilliant mistakes, and unintended consequences shape the way we live in the modern world. Johnson’s “long zoom” approach connects history, geography, politics, and scientific advances with the deep curiousity of inventors or quirky interests of tinkerers to show how innovation truly comes about. His fascinating account is organised into six topics: glass, cold, sound, clean, time, light. Johnson’s fresh exploration of these simple, single-syllable word concepts creates an endlessly absorbing story that moves from lightning strikes in the prehistoric desert to the herculean effort to literally raise up the city of Chicago to laser labs straight out of a sci-fi movie. In other words, it’s the story of how we got to now!

Read more less

En ?El mapa fantasma? se cuenta la historia de la aterradora epidemia de cólera que envolvió Londres en 1854 y sus dos héroes poco probables: el anestesista doctor John Snow y el afable clérigo, el reverendo Henry Whitehead, quienes derrotaron la enfermedad mediante una combinación de conocimiento local, investigación científica y elaboración de mapas. Al contar su extraordinaria historia, Steven Johnson también explora todo un mundo de ideas y conexiones, desde el terror urbano hasta los microbios, los ecosistemas y la Gran Peste, los fenómenos culturales y la vida en la calle. Una poderosa explicación de cómo se ha dado forma al mundo en que vivimos.

Read more less

“The ubiquity of the digital lifestyle has forced us to write and think about technology in a different way.”—Steven Johnson In his Introduction to this beautifully curated collection of essays, Steven Johnson heralds the arrival of a new generation of technology writing. Whether it is Nicholas Carr worrying that Google is making us stupid, Dana Goodyear chronicling the rise of the cellphone novel, Andrew Sullivan explaining the rewards of blogging, Dalton Conley lamenting the sprawling nature of work in the information age, or Clay Shirky marveling at the “cognitive surplus” unleashed by the decline of the TV sitcom, this new generation does not waste time speculating about the future. Its attitude seems to be: Who needs the future? The present is plenty interesting on its own. Packed with sparkling essays culled from print and online publications, The Best Technology Writing 2009 announces a fresh brand of technology journalism, deeply immersed in the fascinating complexity of digital life.The Best Technology Writing 2009 includes essays written by:Julian DibbellDana GoodyearFarhad ManjooDavid TalbotAndrew SullivanRobin McKieDalton ConleyNicholas CarrThe Oniondanah boydJoshua DavisClive ThompsonElizabeth KolbertDan HillSharon WeinbergerKevin KellyLuke O'BrienAdam Stermberghand Clay Shirky

Read more less

Steven Johnson's Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software is a fascinating look at how self-organising systems are changing the world. Why do people cluster together in neighborhoods? How do internet communities spring up from nowhere? Why is a brain conscious even though no single neuron is? What causes a media frenzy?The answer, as Steven Johnson's groundbreaking book shows, is emergence: change that occurs from the bottom up. When enough individual elements interact and organize themselves, the result is collective intelligence - even though no-one is in charge. It is a phenomenon that exists at every level of experience, and will revolutionize the way we see the world. 'Exhilarating' J.G. Ballard 'A dizzying, dazzling romp through fields as disparate as urban planning, computer-game design, neurology and control theory' Economist 'Mind-expanding ... intelligent, witty and tremendously thought-provoking ... Popular science books interesting enough to read twice don't come along all that often' Guardian 'Not just a fascinating quirk of science: it's the future' The New York Times

Read more less

As a species we have doubled our life expectancy in just one hundred years. All the advances of modern life - the medical breakthroughs, the public health institutions, the rising standards of living - have given us each about twenty thousand extra days on average. There are few measures of human progress more astonishing than our increased longevity. This book is Steven Johnson''s attempt to understand where that progress came from. How many of those extra days came from vaccines? What are the forces that now keep us alive longer? Behind each breakthrough lies an inspiring story of innovation.

Read more less

We're constantly being told that popular culture is just mindless entertainment - but, as Steven Johnson shows in Everything Bad is Good for You, it's actually making us more intelligent. Steven Johnson puts forward a radical alternative to the endless complaints about reality TV, throwaway movies and violent video games. He shows that mass culture - The Simpsons, Desperate Housewives, The Apprentice, The Sopranos, Grand Theft Auto - is actually more sophisticated and challenging than ever before. When we focus on what our minds have to do to process its complex, multilayered messages, it becomes clear that it's not dumbing us down - but smartening us up. 'As witty as Seinfeld and as wise as ER' New Statesman 'Wonderfully entertaining' Malcolm Gladwell 'A vital, lucid exploration of the contemporary mediascape' Time Out 'A guru for Generation Xbox' Financial Times 'A must-read' Mark Thompson, former Director-General of the BBC Steven Johnson is the bestselling author of Mind Wide Open, Where Good Ideas Come From, and Emergence: The Connected Lives Of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software, named as one of the best books of 2001 by Esquire, The Village Voice, Amazon.com, and Discover Magazine, and a finalist for the Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism.

Read more less

Steven Johnson, author of "Where Good Ideas Come From", "Emergence", "Everything Bad is Good for You", "Mind Wide Open" and "Ghost Map", and an acknowledged bestselling leader on the subject of innovation, gathers - for a foundational text on the subject of innovation - essays, interviews, and cutting-edge insights by such exciting field leaders as Peter Drucker, Richard Florida, Eric Von Hippel, Dean Keith Simonton, Arthur Koestler, John Seely Brown, and Marshall Berman. Johnson also provides new material from Marisa Mayer of Google, Twitter's Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey, and Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's former Chief Software Architect. With additional commentary by Johnson himself, this book reveals the innovation found in a wide range of fields, including science, technology, energy, transportation, education, art, and sociology, making it vital, fresh, and fascinating reading for our time, and for the future.

Read more less

From the author of Emergence and The Ghost Map, Steven Johnson's Where Good Ideas Come From: The Seven Patterns of Innovation identifies key principles that are the driving force of creativity. Learn how:A slow hunch can be much more valuable than a Eureka momentThe connected 'hive mind' is smarter than the lone thinkerWhere you think matters just as much as what you're thinkingThe best ideas come from building on the ideas and inventions of others From the Renaissance to satellites, medical breakthroughs to social media, Charles Darwin to Marconi, Steven Johnson shows how, by recognising where and how patterns of creativity occur, we can all discover the secrets of inspiration. 'Inspirational' - Independent 'Exhilarating ... An entirely new way of looking at almost everything' - Guardian 'A huge diversity of bright ideas' - Financial Times 'Johnson finds new and original things to say about the nature of innovation, and the different forms it can take' - Economist, Books of the Year 'An enthralling work full of counter-intuitive insights' - Daily Mail Steven Johnson is the author of the acclaimed books Everything Bad is Good for You, Mind Wide Open, Emergence and Interface Culture. His writing appeared in the Guardian, the New Yorker, Nation and Harper's, as well as the op-ed pages of The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. He is a Distinguished Writer In Residence at NYU's School Of Journalism, and a Contributing Editor to Wired.

Read more less

Get the communication skills you need for career success with this unique book. Preparing you for exams and beyond, the valuable content delves into the issues that you’ll face in corporate, retail, and remote support environments. The book offers more than fifty scenarios depicting typical workplace situations, possible responses-and appropriate solutions to guide you. With this approach, you’ll gain valuable insight into becoming a team player and learn strategies to communicate more effectively with coworkers and customers.

Read more less

From Steven Johnson, the bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From, comes How We Got to Now, the companion book to his six-part BBC One television series exploring the power and the legacy of great ideas.How did photography bring about social reform? What connects refrigeration to Hollywood? And how did our battle against dirt help create smartphones? In this story of ingenious breakthroughs and unsung heroes, Steven Johnson explores the essential innovations that changed the world and how we live in it.'A new Steven Johnson book is something not to be missed. The author has become the leading writer on how inventions happen' Daniel Finkelstein, The Times, Books of the Year'Graceful and compelling ... you'll find yourself exhilarated' The New York Times Book Review'Readable, entertaining, and a challenge to any jaded sensibility that has become inured to the everyday miracles all around us' Peter Forbes, Guardian'This nimble history of invention . . .is a many-layered delight' Nature

Read more less

From the bestselling author of Everything Bad is Good For You, Steven Johnson's The Ghost Map vividly recreates Victorian London to show how huge populations live together, how cities can kill - and how they can save us. Steven Johnson is one of today's most exciting writers about popular culture, urban living and new technology. In The Ghost Map he tells the story of the terrifying cholera epidemic that engulfed London in 1854, and the two unlikely heroes - anesthetist Doctor John Snow and affable clergyman Reverend Henry Whitehead - who defeated the disease through a combination of local knowledge, scientific research and map-making. In telling their extraordinary story, Steven Johnson also explores a whole world of ideas and connections, from urban terror to microbes, ecosystems to the Great Stink, cultural phenomena to street life. 'A wonderful book' Mail on Sunday 'A thumping page-turner' Daily Telegraph 'Enthralling ... vivid and gripping' New Statesman 'Exhilarating' Spectator 'It is a rattling scientific mystery, but in the hands of Steven Johnson it becomes something much richer ... a vast, interconnected picture about urban and bacterial life ... it is difficult to do justice to the exuberance of Johnson's ideas' Scotland on Sunday Steven Johnson is the author of the acclaimed books Everything Bad is Good for You, Mind Wide Open, Where Good Ideas Come From, Emergence and Interface Culture. His writing appeared in the Guardian, the New Yorker, Nation and Harper's, as well as the op-ed pages of The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. He is a Distinguished Writer In Residence at NYU's School Of Journalism, and a Contributing Editor to Wired.

Read more less

A Walk in Our Cleats is an exciting, inside look at 25 notable NFL players and their faith journeys. Each player has faced unique circumstances in staying fit, pursuing their dreams, and getting to play in the NFL, but all have one thing in common: the power of Jesus Christ in their lives.A Walk in Our Cleats, 25 Athletes Who Never Gave Up is an inspiring, genuine, real-time read with never-before-seen photographs that will appeal to American football fans everywhere. Featuring an eye-catching four-color interior, readers will be drawn in by the short, personal entries written by each player. Fans can jump in throughout the book to browse photos and pick up inspiration from each NFL player’s unique perspective on God’s amazing grace. Each player entry includes a relevant message, their favorite Scripture passages, and an encouraging life application to encourage and motivate you in your own faith journey.Decorated and popular NFL players included in A Walk in Our Cleats are: Benjamin Watson, Ben Roethlisberger, Manny Ramirez, Miles Killebrew, Chris Harris Jr., David Bass, Lorenzo Alexander, Tyson Alualu, Jordan Matthews, Shamarko Thomas, Matthew Slater, Chris Clark, Don Carey, Arthur Moats, Derrick Morgan, Will Johnson, Wesley Woodyard, Ryan Shazier, Charles Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Tyler Patmon, Sam Acho, and Ben Garland.

Read more less