Greatness — Who Makes History and Why
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
Greatness — Who Makes History and Why
| Full title | Greatness: Who Makes History and Why |
|---|---|
| Author | Dean Keith Simonton |
| Published | 1994 |
| Pages | 502 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Psychologist Dean Keith Simonton’s general-audience synthesis of a career spent building datasets of eminent scientists, artists and leaders and asking what actually predicts achievement — genius, productivity, and the conditions that produce outsized individuals. |
Where I heard about it
- @oldbooksguy — recommended it on X in February 2022, in reply to Marc Andreessen and @thogge asking “What makes exceptional founders?” Archived at What Makes Exceptional Founders… (tweet).
About this edition
That question is the frame worth reading it in — but 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.
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.