A fascinating work on the nature of invention, this book seeks to understand the personalities and preconditions that yield some of the products that have transformed our world. The focus in particular is a look at tangible, material inventions, ranging from the sippy cup to the compact disc.

As a general rule I find the story of things to be pretty interesting, and I appreciate Kennedy’s broad survey across a wide range of industries. Some of these stories were fairly familiar to me - in particular those related to computers, like the description of the Memex (an early thought experiment that predicted the Internet, decades before its time) and the invention of the mouse. Even these familiar stories I found cast in an interesting light - I had not really thought about the famous Memex as anything more than an interesting historical quirk, but Kennedy makes a compelling case that it falls into a long lineage of visionary thought experiments. Kennedy also has a particular interest in 3D printers, and no wonder: much as I might have imagined when I first started reading about them ten years ago, they have begun revolutionizing the world of manufacturing, especially in areas requiring small batches of highly valuable products, like custom prosthetics. Most of all I appreciated the exploration of the TRIZ system and the curious Soviet inventor who created a systematic study of invention itself.

I would have enjoyed reading more about TRIZ - it sounds like a fascinating subject, though I understand that there are books more suited to studying just that system. I think it would have also been interesting to read Kennedy’s take on the role of invention in the world of intangible goods. Software and music are two huge industries that have been upended by inventers in numerous ways over the last few decades, often with a bias towards empowering the individual tinkerer. A comparison of the role of invention in these worlds, as compared with invention in the world of tangible products, would be quite worthwhile.

This work is certainly an excellent introduction to the strange world of new products and the inventors who create them, and worth a look.