Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation

Everything Is Obvious: *Once You Know the Answer by Duncan J. Watts Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars by Shankar Vedantam The Googlization of Everything: (And Why We Should Worry) by Siva Vaidhyanathan In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives by Steven Levy Idea Man: A Memoir by Paul Allen The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar

For a book on a literal revolution, read George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia." For a book on how to generate revolutionary ideas, I'd recommend Steven Johnson's "Where Good Ideas Come From." More generally, Kindle lets you sample the first chapter of any book for free. Amazon also lets you lend books to other Kindle owners, but I've never found that feature for myself...

Here are some more favorites (they may not qualify as the best books ever, but great books with original and useful ideas): - Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson - The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home by Dan Ariely - Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath, Dan Heath

"Where Good Ideas Come From" by Steven Johnson I'm fairly stubborn, so it takes a lot for me to change my ways. This book has changed my daily work routine. Johnson outlines 7 environments that have historically produced the most innovative ideas. It's easy to apply the lessons to your typical working day. Best book I've read in probably 5 years. 4-minute Teaser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU TED Talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0af00UcTO-c Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1594487715

See here: http://jseliger.com/2010/03/22/influential-books-on-me-that-... (http://jseliger.com/2010/03/22/influential-books-on-me-that-is/) for a list of influential books on me. I actually have a half-written post on books I wish I'd read when I was younger; here it is: 1. <em>Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience</em> by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 2. <em>The Guide to Getting It On</em> by Paul Johannides [sp?] 3. <em>The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature</em> by Geoffrey Miller 4. <em>Hackers & Painters</em> by Paul Graham 5. <em>Man's Search for Meaning</em> by Viktor Frankl 6. <em>Stumbling on Happiness</em> by Daniel Gilbert In all cases, I think these books profoundly shaped how not only I think, but I think others can learn to think too. All suddenly revealed new connections and ideas about the world I'd never experienced or expected to experience before.…