From the wheel to gene editing, new ideas shape our world.
In this dazzling, surprising and always entertaining book, bestselling author Andrew Leigh tells the story of innovation.
Innovation shapes almost every corner of our lives, yet we rarely pause to notice it. Someone had to invent nails and wheelbarrows; alphabets and books; glass windows and windscreen wipers; tin cans and synthetic dyes. From tools and technologies to fresh approaches in art and architecture, innovation surrounds us.
Leigh shows that three forces drive innovation: tinkering, teams and trade. He examines hotbeds of creativity, the forces that suppress them, and the surprising ways ideas travel across borders and disciplines. The result is a lively, compact look at the engines powering progress.
A brilliant follow-up to the international bestseller The Shortest History of Economics.
'[The Shortest History of Innovation] neatly summarises the restless, occasionally terrifying, history of this uniquely human faculty.' Financial Times, Martin Wolf's best summer books of 2026: Economics
'Sweeping across millennia, from the wheel to artificial intelligence, Leigh argues three forces underpin most innovation: tinkering, teamwork and trade. The alliteration is elegant. More importantly, however, it captures much of what innovation scholars have long observed: ideas become valuable not through inspiration alone, but through experimentation, collaboration and exchange.' —The Conversation
'Along with innovations such as the wheel, microscopes, vaccinations, railways and aeroplanes, Leigh highlights the easily overlooked things that make a big difference to the quality of our lives, such as buttons, nails, novels and pianos… Leigh's astute analysis is the linchpin holding together this whirling carousel of human creativity.' —Sydney Morning Herald
'Leigh's journey through innovation is sure to inspire and intrigue readers . . . a must read for this moment, when innovation is rapidly taking place around the world, perhaps at a speed that we have never seen before.' —Australian Book Review
'The Shortest History of Innovation is an insightful primer on the forces driving human progress and reminds us that the future depends on today's choices.' —Good Reading
Contents
Mould Juice and Myth-Making
Axes, Aqueducts and Sapphic Love
Algebra, Gunpowder and the Plough
Perspective, Clocks and the Printing Press
Telescopes, Microscopes and Intellectual Property
Steam, Vaccination and the Piano
Steel, Plastic and Electricity
Physics, Automobiles and Flight
Wars, Labs and Moonshots
Biotech, Computers and AI
Beyond Eureka