Greatness — Who Makes History and Why

Simonton is a psychologist who spent his career applying quantitative methods to historical figures — building datasets of eminent scientists, artists and leaders and asking what actually predicts achievement. This is his general-audience synthesis: what the evidence says about genius, productivity, and the conditions that produce outsized individuals.

Context: Recommended as an answer to a question about what makes exceptional founders, which is the frame worth reading it in — the book is about eminence across domains rather than about business, and its method is statistical rather than biographical.

Connections

• What Makes Exceptional Founders… (tweet) — where this was recommended.
• Dean Keith Simonton — the author.