The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “innovation”

How Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron’s Daughter, Became the World’s First Computer Programmer
How Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron’s Daughter, Became the World’s First Computer Programmer

How a young woman with the uncommon talent of applying poetic imagination to science envisioned the Symbolic Medea that would become the modern computer, sparking the birth of the digital age.

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The Unsung Heroes of Innovation: A 1964 Manifesto for the Role of the Critic-Curator in How Ideas Spread
The Unsung Heroes of Innovation: A 1964 Manifesto for the Role of the Critic-Curator in How Ideas Spread

“It would be a mistake to distinguish too sharply between those who contribute a new way of doing and those who contribute a new way of thinking.”

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Beloved British Artist Ralph Steadman Illustrates the Life of Leonardo da Vinci
Beloved British Artist Ralph Steadman Illustrates the Life of Leonardo da Vinci

A visual “autobiography” of the legendary polymath that grants equal dignity to the grit and the glory.

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Dame Steve Shirley, the World’s First Freelance Programmer
Dame Steve Shirley, the World’s First Freelance Programmer

“Few things in life are as solid as they seem.”

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Bill Moggridge, Designer of the First Laptop, on Human-Centered Design
Bill Moggridge, Designer of the First Laptop, on Human-Centered Design

“It doesn’t occur to most people that everything is designed — that every building and everything they touch in the world is designed.”

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The Hummingbird Effect: How Galileo Invented Timekeeping and Forever Changed Modern Life
The Hummingbird Effect: How Galileo Invented Timekeeping and Forever Changed Modern Life

How the invisible hand of the clock powered the Industrial Revolution and sparked the Information Age.

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The Art of Self-Renewal: The Pioneering Social Scientist John Gardner on How to Keep Your Work and Your Spirit Alive Over the Long Run
The Art of Self-Renewal: The Pioneering Social Scientist John Gardner on How to Keep Your Work and Your Spirit Alive Over the Long Run

“The self-renewing man … looks forward to an endless and unpredictable dialogue between his potentialities an the claims of life – not only the claims he encounters but the claims he invents.”

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How Apple Went from Underdog to Cult in Six Design and Innovation Strategies from the Early Days
How Apple Went from Underdog to Cult in Six Design and Innovation Strategies from the Early Days

“Apple had to make real the dreams people didn’t know were dreamable.”

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How Einstein Thought: Why “Combinatory Play” Is the Secret of Genius
How Einstein Thought: Why “Combinatory Play” Is the Secret of Genius

“Combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought.”

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Uncommon Genius: Stephen Jay Gould on Why Dot-Connecting Is the Key to Creativity
Uncommon Genius: Stephen Jay Gould on Why Dot-Connecting Is the Key to Creativity

“The trick to creativity, if there is a single useful thing to say about it, is to identify your own peculiar talent and then to settle down to work with it for a good long time.”

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