Bad Ideas? An arresting history of our invention by Robert Winston

After weekend of intense reading I have finally finished and had a chance to mull over English scientist and MD Lord Robert Winston’s most recent book Bad Ideas?: An Arresting History of Our Inventions.

When I first opened up Bad Ideas? I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I was first made aware of Robert Wiston’s work through various popular science television programmes focusing on the Human Body. And it turns out that his area of expertise is in Fertility, not something I thought really provided fantastic base for writing a book on the history of invention. However once I got into Bad Ideas? I was pleasantly surprised to find most of his qualifications and previous experience actually made for a refreshening view on inventions and the development of humans throughout history.

The books underlying premise is largely to show that based on previous scientific inventions and discoveries, scientists need to open up and really engage with the public on new scientific endeavours. Interestingly in several parts of the book where Robert Wiston riffs on the above point you could have easily taken the word scientist and replaced it with designer and it would make a lot of sense.

The book goes on from the initial premise to explore human development and many of our inventions. From the use of flints and sharp stones as tools through to the development of agriculture, then steam power and various other modern achievements in various scientific fields.

While the book is primarily science focused there are still quite a few lessons that designers and engineers can walk away from the book with. Beyond broadening your view of the world of scientific discovery I believe another really interesting lesson designers can get from this book is that throughout history many ideas that appear the same have seeded across the globe independently of each other at the same or similar times.

There are other interesting lessons from history of the development of steam engines and printing presses in the book that designers would do well to heed as well. An interesting example is that many people who are first to develop/invent an idea or concept often aren’t the ones who are truly successful with it. It’s often those who take the original idea that has come before and improve it that are successful. We tend to think of this lesson these days in terms of Google (remember AltaVista?) or the iPod (MPMan anyone?) however it has been a recurring theme throughout history.

As each period of history and various inventions and developments are explored Robert Winston also shows us that many of the fantastic inventions of today can actually contribute to unforeseen and often large problems in the future. This was well demonstrated by his exploration of the development of writing and the printing press and there are countless other examples, both historic and modern throughout the book.

Approximately three quarters of the way through the book is where I think Robert Winston has come unstuck with what was shaping up to be an excellent text. At the 3/4 mark Robert Winston begins to show how the earliest human development and invention are now shaping the state of todays world and the resulting potential climate disasters and population problems. This progression in the book really goes back to his original premise of showing that based on previous inventions and discoveries, that scientists need to open up and really engage with the public on new scientific endeavours. At this point in the book Robert Winston solidly demonstrates that what he is saying is important. However I felt that the way his main point was suddenly and not at all subtly reintroduced, with Robert Winston launching straight into riffing on the same old climate change arguments (the one part of the book where it felt like he was barking up the same tree as everyone else), was clumsily done.

Bad Ideas?: An Arresting History of Our Inventions is well worth a read, I wouldn’t suggest you rush out and buy it, if you can borrow a copy at the library or off a friend you’d be better off. It does present a perspective on human invention and development that is refreshing and gives great insights into lessons both scientists and designers can learn from history and apply both today and as we move into the future. If you are inclined to purchase a copy then you can do so via Amazon or Fishpond.