What are the fifty most interesting, engaging, or counterintuitive inventions you can think of? There was a time, a year or so ago, when I was asking this question of everyone I met—so I confess a certain paranoia that someone suggested something splendid, and I have forgotten to give them credit. I beg forgiveness in anticipation.
No danger of forgetting the contributions of Philip Ball, David Bodanis, Dominic Camus, Patricia Fara, Claudia Goldin, Charles Kenny, Armand Leroi, Arthur I. Miller, Katharina Rietzler, Martin Sandbu, and Simon Singh—thank you all for your wisdom and generosity.
I also owe a great debt to the economic historians, technology mavens, and brilliant writers who have in various ways inspired or informed the research in this book. The references in the book tell the full story, but a few names spring to mind: William N. Goetzmann, Robert Gordon, Steven Johnson, Marc Levinson, Felix Martin, Mariana Mazzucato, William Nordhaus, and the crew at some of my favorite podcasts: 99% Invisible, Planet Money, Radiolab, and Surprisingly Awesome.
At Little, Brown, Tim Whiting and particularly Nithya Rae coped superbly with tight deadlines and late copy, as did Kevin Murphy and the indefatigable Jake Morrissey at Riverhead. I know that many other people at Little, Brown, at Riverhead, and at my publishers around the world are involved in getting this book into your hands—but I want to particularly thank Katie Freeman for being such a glorious nerd about concrete. My agents, Sue Ayton, Helen Purvis, Zoe Pagnamenta, and especially Sally Holloway, juggled the complexities of the project with their usual tact and skill.
At the BBC, Rich Knight had faith in this idea from the start and Mary Hockaday was quick to commission. Ben Crighton has been an inspiring and subtle producer, ably supported by studio genius James Beard, wordsmith Jennifer Clarke, production coordinator Janet Staples, editor Richard Vadon, and many others.
As always, I’m grateful to my editors at the Financial Times for their support and indulgence: Esther Bintliff, Caroline Daniel, Alice Fishburn, Alec Russell, Fred Studemann, and others. What wonderful colleagues you are.
But the most important collaborator on this project has been Andrew Wright. Andrew researched vast swaths of this book; he also produced wise and witty first drafts of many of the chapters, and improved the others with his customarily incisive edits. I am grateful for his speed, skill, and self-effacing insistence that writing half a book is no big deal. I’m even more grateful for his friendship for the last quarter of a century.
Finally, thank you to my family, Fran, Stella, Africa, and Herbie. You guys are awesome.