Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World

“A house of wonders itself. . . . Wonderland inspires grins and well-what-d'ya-knows” —The New York Times Book Review

From the New York Times–bestselling author of How We Got to Now and Farsighted, a look at the world-changing innovations we made while keeping ourselves entertained.

This lushly illustrated history of popular entertainment takes a long-zoom approach, contending that the pursuit of novelty and wonder is a powerful driver of world-shaping technological change. Steven Johnson argues that, throughout history, the cutting edge of innovation lies wherever people are working the hardest to keep themselves and others amused. 
 
Johnson’s storytelling is just as delightful as the inventions he describes, full of surprising stops along the journey from simple concepts to complex modern systems. He introduces us to the colorful innovators of leisure: the explorers, proprietors, showmen, and artists who changed the trajectory of history with their luxurious wares, exotic meals, taverns, gambling tables, and magic shows.  
 
In Wonderland, Johnson compellingly argues that observers of technological and social trends should be looking for clues in novel amusements. You’ll find the future wherever people are having the most fun.

• Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
• How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World
• Farsighted: How We Make the Decisions That Matter the Most
• In Defense of History
• Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World
• The Invention of Air: A Story Of Science, Faith, Revolution, And The Birth Of America
• Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul
• The Return of Martin Guerre
• History: A Very Short Introduction
• Baseball in Blue and Gray: The National Pastime during the Civil War