American Genesis
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
American Genesis
| Full title | American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm, 1870-1970 |
|---|---|
| Author | Thomas P. Hughes |
| Published | 1989 |
| Pages | 548 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Thomas P. Hughes’s Pulitzer-finalist cultural history of American invention from 1870 to 1970, split at 1920 between the era of the independent inventor and the era of the industrial research system — the book that explains where the great labs came from. |
Where I heard about it
- Replies to Sarah Guo — recommended twice in the replies when she asked on X whether there was “a book / essay about environments that best support scientific discovery,” and why places like Bell Labs, the Cavendish, Xerox PARC and Los Alamos were so productive, March 2025. The recovered list is on Is There a Book… (tweet).
Connections
- Thomas Edison — the archetype of Hughes’s first era.
- Bell Labs — the archetype of his second.
- Technological Innovation · Historical Futurism — the portfolio ideas.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.