Where Good Ideas Come From

Steven Johnson is an American popular science author, media theorist, and technology expert known for his interdisciplinary approach to understanding innovation, technology, and society. Born in Washington, DC in 1968, Johnson grew up in Washington and later moved to New York City. He studied semiotics at Brown University, where he graduated with a BA in 1990. His interest in the intersection of science, technology, and culture was evident even in his undergraduate years, where he wrote his honors thesis on hypertext literature. Johnson later pursued graduate studies in English Literature at Columbia University, further honing his skills in analyzing complex narratives and cultural phenomena.

Professionally, Johnson has built a career as a prolific writer and thinker at the intersection of science, technology, and culture. He has authored over a dozen books exploring various aspects of innovation, urban development, and the history of ideas. His first book, Interface Culture: How New Technology Transforms the Way We Create and Communicate (1997), set the tone for his future work by examining how digital interfaces shape people’s interaction with information and each other. Some of his other notable works include Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software (2001), which explores self-organizing systems; Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life (2004), delving into cognitive science; The Ghost Map (2006), a historical account of a cholera outbreak in London that also serves as an examination of urban planning and scientific discovery; and The Invention of Air (2008), a biography of Joseph Priestley that also explores the interconnectedness of scientific, political, and cultural progress.