Mental Pivot #23: Pioneers, Innovation, Notes
A handful of overlooked individuals who improved our world, “How Innovation Works” by Matt Ridley, and “nets and knives” as a note-taking metaphor.
Pop quiz: can you identify any of the individuals pictured below?
If you’re like me, you probably didn’t guess a single one. These are figures from the past who don’t make it into most history books. You might not know their names, occupations or accomplishments, but each played a part in the ongoing story of human progress and innovation.
From left to right:
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762): Introduced smallpox inoculation known as variolation (a precursor to vaccination) to the Western world after her travels in the Ottoman Empire.
Alexander Cumming (1731-1814): Invented the plumbing trap (aka S-trap or U-bend). In doing so, Cumming single-handedly solved a critical problem of indoor plumbing: preventing bad smells from entering the home via the sewer system.
Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865): The Hungarian physician was an early advocate of hand-washing and antiseptic procedures in obstetrics.
Malcom MacLean (1913-2001): American transport entrepreneur whose innovations in containerization led to huge efficiencies in global shipping (improved in-port turnarounds and lower shipping costs).
Having recently finished Matt Ridley’s book on innovation, I’ve been thinking a lot about the debt of gratitude I owe to the many contemporaries and forebears whose hard work and dedication have improved my life. Individuals like the ones listed above rarely receive the accolades we heap on celebrities, but their legacies are an undeniable part of the complex continuum of human progress.
I have one final tribute for today. You might not recognize her either, but if you’re an avid coffee drinker like me, you should.
This is Melitta Bentz (1873-1950)—housewife, mother of two, inventor, and innovator. In the early 1900s, frustrated with the deficiencies of the available coffee brewing methods (metal percolators, espresso machines, and linen bag filters), Bentz got creative and searched for a faster, less messy, hassle-free way to brew a hot cup of joe.
She experimented with a variety of materials and methods. One experiment involved her school-aged son’s blotting paper (absorbent paper used to wipe excess ink from writing paper). Bentz placed coffee grounds atop blotting paper. The paper sat upon a metal sieve which rested atop a perforated brass pot. By pouring hot water over the grounds, delicious hot coffee could be directed from the contraption into a mug or pitcher. The paper was sufficiently porous to allow for the steeped coffee to pass through into the cup, but the messy grounds remained in the paper for easy disposal and the resulting drink was flavorful but not bitter. She patented her invention in 1908.
Today, pour-over coffee and paper filters remain a popular method for coffee brewing. Those who frequent the coffee section of their local market can still purchase coffee filters adorned with the bright red logo of the company she founded that still bears her name.
Now onto the updates...
What’s New on the Blog:
1. Book Notes: “How Innovation Works” by Matt Ridley
What is innovation? According to Ridley, it is much more than invention (something often mistaken for innovation). Invention is the act of discovering an idea; it is merely a beginning, an inception point. Innovation is much more, it is when the invention is taken into the world and made practical. Innovation is the creative reconfiguration of multiple inventions and ideas into something new. Innovation is the act of fully exploring the consequences of that new thing and disseminating and integrating it into society and general use.
Ridley’s book is really two books in one. The first part is a history of innovation in different domains like energy, medicine, and food. The second part is an examination of the patterns of innovation and the ways society can foster or hinder its flourishing. This is a worthwhile read for those interested in the story of human ingenuity, progress, and creativity.
2. Nets and Knives: The Interplay between Expansive and Atomic Notes
A reader recently asked: “I was hoping you'd be willing to elaborate a little on how you separate book notes from Zettelkasten. I take notes on the books that I read and summarise them that way, but that would be counterproductive to the Zettelkasten.”
My abbreviated answer: “When collecting material for my book notes, I cast a wide net. Anything remotely interesting makes it into these notes. When collecting material for my Zettelkasten, I’m more selective and require a tool with more precision, a knife. With that framework in mind, it’s easier to view both my book notes and Zettelkasten as distinct but complementary tools.”
Articles & Podcasts of Note:
Amazon Narratives: Memos, Working Backwards (podcast): Host Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn founder) interviews the authors of a new book about Amazon’s novel business strategies. Of particular interest are Amazon’s internal use of written memos (in lieu of PowerPoint presentations) and the importance of narrative as a tool for vetting complex ideas.
Creeping as a Service: Fadeke Abegbuyi writes about Spoonbill, a strange but increasingly popular online service that tracks and publishes changes made to Twitter profiles, and the themes of privacy, public data, signaling, and meticulously crafted online personas.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Walk: Deborah Grayson Riegel sings the praises of the humble act of walking.
The Feminine Physique: Petra Browne writes a firsthand account about the world of female bodybuilding. It’s origins in the 1970s, the tension between strength, beauty and femininity, and the irony that to present well, contestants must starve themselves rendering their bodies limp and lethargic (despite appearances to the contrary).
How to Write Readable Code: Jeremy Mikkola’s piece on programming clarity contains a number of generally applicable principles.
Inside the Worst-Hit County in the Worst-Hit State in the Worst-Hit Country: It’s hard to want to read yet another piece about COVID-19, but this longform article by Atul Gawande is excellent. Minot, North Dakota—and its civic, political and public health conflicts and priorities—is America writ large.
Is the World Becoming Better?: Inspired by Hans Rosling’s Factfulness, Paras Chopra examines our distorted views about human progress and offers a cautiously optimistic assessment.
Pause. Reflect. Think: Peter West writes about the once popular and now forgotten philosopher Susan Stebbing, her book Thinking to Some Purpose (1939), and the model of public engagement she advocated—active self-directed learning and skills-acquisition over transmissionism (experts presenting to an audience of passive recipients).
What I Think of Bitcoin: Ray Dalio offers his opinion on cryptocurrencies, their utility, value, prospects, and risks. I value Dalio’s pieces as a window into his measured and objective thought-process.
Odds & Ends:
The Gapminder Worldview Upgrader is a tool for testing your misconceptions about global progress. Try it out yourself and see if your beliefs about the world are grounded in facts (or not).
Sundeep Agarwal’s 100 Page Python Intro is a free online ebook for beginners. I appreciate that the author doesn’t skimp on the examples.
Delivering the Internet by Donkey taught me about the concept of “sneakernets” and “internet-in-a-box.” There are many parts of the world lacking a reliable connection to the global internet. One way to bridge the knowledge gap is through downloading resources onto microcomputers and serving the content locally (e.g. downloaded archives of Wikipedia or Khan Academy). There are notable projects that facilitate this process like Kiwix and RACHEL.
Since I’m on an innovation kick, I thought I’d offer a handful of podcasts on the topic:
50 Things that Made the Modern Economy: Based on Tim Harford’s book by the same title, each episode offers a short 15-minute look at a key innovation (e.g. the barcode, Diesel engine, antibiotics, and paper).
99% Invisible: Described as a podcast about all the hidden things and ideas that shape our world, 99pi frequently looks at the design decisions and history of overlooked innovations.
People Fixing the World: This BBC series looks at contemporary innovations. Recent topics include lab grown meat, using volcanic rock to store energy, and spacesuits used to save mothers giving birth in remote places.
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