How to Fly a Horse: The Secret History of Creation, Invention, and Discovery - Hardcover

Ashton, Kevin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385538596 ISBN 13: 9780385538596

Publisher: Doubleday, 2015

Synopsis

As a technology pioneer at MIT and as the leader of three successful start-ups, Kevin Ashton experienced firsthand the all-consuming challenge of creating something new. Now, in a tour-de-force narrative twenty years in the making, Ashton leads us on a journey through humanity’s greatest creations to uncover the surprising truth behind who creates and how they do it. From the crystallographer’s laboratory where the secrets of DNA were first revealed by a long forgotten woman, to the electromagnetic chamber where the stealth bomber was born on a twenty-five-cent bet, to the Ohio bicycle shop where the Wright brothers set out to “fly a horse,” Ashton showcases the seemingly unremarkable individuals, gradual steps, multiple failures, and countless ordinary and usually uncredited acts that lead to our most astounding breakthroughs.

Creators, he shows, apply in particular ways the everyday, ordinary thinking of which we are all capable, taking thousands of small steps and working in an endless loop of problem and solution. He examines why innovators meet resistance and how they overcome it, why most organizations stifle creative people, and how the most creative organizations work. Drawing on examples from art, science, business, and invention, from Mozart to the Muppets, Archimedes to Apple, Kandinsky to a can of Coke,How to Fly a Horse is a passionate and immensely rewarding exploration of how “new” comes to be.

About this title

Review:

"Ashton is persuasive ... His well chosen examples reinforce the idea that there is no magic or myth to creation or discovery, making this an approachable, thought-provoking book that encourages everyone to be as good as they can be." (Observer)

"An inspiring vision of creativity that’s littered with practical advice, and is a cracking read to boot." (BBC Focus)

"Many of these anecdotes are rather lovely – a chapter on the credit denied female scientists is fascinating" (Daily Telegraph)

Book Description:

In the vein of Susan Cain's QUIET and Malcolm Gladwell's DAVID AND GOLIATH, HOW TO FLY A HORSE is a smart, empowering book that dispels the myths around genius and creativity.

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0385538596
• ISBN 13: 9780385538596
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 314