How to teach a horse to fly? The secret history of creativity, inventions and discoveries

The book that everyone can be a creator. The author debunk the myth of genius and proves that innovation is the result of hard work.

Once Kevin Ashton believed that he was absolutely not creative: his ideas did not arise in his head as out of magic, those around them resisted him, it was difficult to realize ideas. But once he tried to solve one boring, at first glance, task - and in a few years he invented the Internet of things (as Kevin called the Internet development scheme, according to which everyday objects can connect to the common network and exchange information).

The author introduces readers to other inventors and their creations. These are ordinary people: they have gone a way of failure, ridicule, failures and numerous repetitions. The book has many amazing stories. We will learn how the secrets of DNA were discovered, who invented the main characters of the “Sesam Street”, why the Wright brothers wanted to “force the horse to fly”. Each plot unfolds in its place and time, affects different spheres and emphasizes the unique aspects of the creative process.

An important book for creators and innovators, as well as a useful study of how the new comes to this world.

For whom this book
For those who are interested in the process of creativity and create something new.

For those who are important the experience of people who have become innovators.

From the author
My story is not like those described in books about creative abilities. There is no magic in it, only a bit of inspiration and tens of thousands of hours of work. The creation of the Internet of things was a complex and difficult process. Before you learn to be successful, I learned to make mistakes. Expect conflicts. Be prepared for resistance.

I used the knowledge gained in order to help open scientific and technological enterprises. One of them in 2014 was called the “most innovative company on the Internet of things”, two others were bought by larger players. I made lectures, talking about my inventive experience. One of them attracted so many people that I had to stay an hour to answer an incredible number of questions. This lecture formed the basis of the book.

In each chapter, I tell the real story of a creative person. I turn to science, history and philosophy. Together, these stories open simultaneously an inspiring and complex scheme, with which people create something new. It inspires, because we can, without a shadow of a doubt, prove that everyone is able to be a creator. The difficulty lies in the fact that in the process of creativity there is nothing magical. Creating a new one is not magic, but work