Publication
Large Print Press, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning, [2016]
Collection
Call number
Large Print Non-Fiction W
Physical description
615 p.; 22 cm
Status
Available
Call number
Description
An acclaimed travel writer examines the connection between surroundings and innovative ideas, profiling examples in such regions as early-twentieth-century Vienna, Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens, and Silicon Valley. --Publisher.
Subjects
User reviews
LibraryThing member debnance
Having taken on the geography of happiness in The Geography of Bliss, author Eric Weiner now turns his attention to the geography of genius. Weiner takes a close look at places on the earth that have been hotspots of creativity in the past and then visits these places with an eye out for causation.
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A fascinating read. Show Less
LibraryThing member brewbooks
I guess I am too much of a linear thinker. This book seemed like an accretion of facts and interviews that were thrown together, it just did not work for me.
LibraryThing member HeatherMS
Reading "The Geography of Genius" by Eric Weiner felt like I was on the journey with him. The Author seeks to determine why genius occurs geographically in clusters. He travels all over the globe, going to Athens, Greece to the Silicon Valley to try and figure out if there is a reason why genius
If you are reading this book and hoping it is filled with 100% accurate facts, you will be disappointed. If you are desiring to go on a journey and learn about new places/people, then you will be delighted. The Author has chosen the 1st person narrative for this book and it works.
Also, it is not a book to be read in one sitting... it is more of read a chapter, put down and digest.
***I received this book through GoodReads Member Giveaway. The opinion is solely my own.***
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seems to pop up (genius is meant as a time when greats were alive at the same time, such as Beethoven and Mozart, Socrates and Plato, etc.) randomly throughout time around the globe. If you are reading this book and hoping it is filled with 100% accurate facts, you will be disappointed. If you are desiring to go on a journey and learn about new places/people, then you will be delighted. The Author has chosen the 1st person narrative for this book and it works.
Also, it is not a book to be read in one sitting... it is more of read a chapter, put down and digest.
***I received this book through GoodReads Member Giveaway. The opinion is solely my own.***
Show Less
LibraryThing member BookConcierge
Book on CD read by the author
The subtitle is all the synopsis you need: A Search for the World’s Most Creative Places, from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley.
Weiner explores the culture of various cities and eras that resulted in an environment that fostered genius – Ancient Athens, Hangzhou
He looks at whether individual effort was more important than cooperation within a group; how financial need influenced the genius; the role of nurture vs nature; and the preponderance of failure which spurs the genius to continue working. It’s an interesting book, but not a particularly compelling one, and there were times when I just zoned out. Still, I learned a little about a variety of subjects.
Weiner reads the audio book himself. He clearly has a passion for the subject, which is especially evident in the epilogue.
The subtitle is all the synopsis you need: A Search for the World’s Most Creative Places, from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley.
Weiner explores the culture of various cities and eras that resulted in an environment that fostered genius – Ancient Athens, Hangzhou
Show More
in the time of the Song Dynasty, Renaissance Florence, 18th century Edinburgh, Calcutta from about 1840 to 1920, Vienna with TWO golden ages, separated by nearly a century (Mozart to Freud), and California’s Silicon Valley.He looks at whether individual effort was more important than cooperation within a group; how financial need influenced the genius; the role of nurture vs nature; and the preponderance of failure which spurs the genius to continue working. It’s an interesting book, but not a particularly compelling one, and there were times when I just zoned out. Still, I learned a little about a variety of subjects.
Weiner reads the audio book himself. He clearly has a passion for the subject, which is especially evident in the epilogue.
Show Less
LibraryThing member m.belljackson
The Geography of Genius moves alternately between inspiring, intriguing, and repetitive.
With the plethora of Genius definitions offered, a takeaway is hard to remember,
which will make reading again a relaxing pleasure.
It would have been welcome if the author had offered the Genius of Jazz or
tracing the lineage from the often forgotten roots of so called Classical Music to the amazing
creativity of 20th and 21st century Improvisation. Eric Weiner mentions Beethoven as a prime
example of early improvisation. It would be welcome to have comparisons and contrasts
with the high creative activity and intelligence of America's music greats - John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Roscoe Mitchell...
and the cities that fostered them.
With the plethora of Genius definitions offered, a takeaway is hard to remember,
which will make reading again a relaxing pleasure.
It would have been welcome if the author had offered the Genius of Jazz or
Show More
Creative New Music,tracing the lineage from the often forgotten roots of so called Classical Music to the amazing
creativity of 20th and 21st century Improvisation. Eric Weiner mentions Beethoven as a prime
example of early improvisation. It would be welcome to have comparisons and contrasts
with the high creative activity and intelligence of America's music greats - John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Roscoe Mitchell...
and the cities that fostered them.
Show Less
LibraryThing member hardlyhardy
What Eric Weiner did so ably with happiness in “The Geography of Bliss,” he attempts to do with genius in his 2016 book “The Geography of Genius.” Well, almost. This time he includes the time element to his geographical considerations, true geniuses gathered in one place being even more
This search takes him to Athens at the time of Socrates, Plato and Thucydides; Florence at the time of DaVinci and Michelangelo; Edinburgh at the time of Adam Smith, James Watt and James Hutton; and Vienna at the time of Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Beethoven.
Some places of genius may surprise readers. Calcutta, for example. Calcutta? Well, yes. From about 1840 to 1920, fueled in part about by the influence of the British Empire, this city produced a number of men of genius, such as Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore, who is still revered in India.
Of the places of genius Weiner discusses, only Silicon Valley still exists as such today, but the author opines that its days may be numbered. As places of genius go, it is already getting long in the tooth.
Weiner travels to each of these places, and others, to see what they are like today and to discuss with local authorities the reasons why genius bloomed, however temporarily, in these particular locales and not others. Although he tries to generalize, the reasons seem to vary from place to place. In Calcutta, he determines that cultural chaos may have stimulated genius, except that such chaos doesn't seem to be working today.
In Florence he says that genius is always communal, one genius stimulating another. In Scotland he finds that genius is practical and has a high tolerance for ambiguity. Tension is necessary in Vienna. In Silicon Valley he gives a share of the credit to moving vans, the fact that great computer minds keep coming and going, moving from one company to another, failing with one idea but then going on to the next.
In summary he says that creative cities need three T's: technology, talent and tolerance. And three D's: disorder, diversity and discernment. Yet true genius remains something that cannot be cultivated or predicted. Mostly it's just a matter of luck.
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rare than happy people. So while he looked for the happiest places in the world today in the former book, this time he seeks the great places of genius in history.This search takes him to Athens at the time of Socrates, Plato and Thucydides; Florence at the time of DaVinci and Michelangelo; Edinburgh at the time of Adam Smith, James Watt and James Hutton; and Vienna at the time of Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Beethoven.
Some places of genius may surprise readers. Calcutta, for example. Calcutta? Well, yes. From about 1840 to 1920, fueled in part about by the influence of the British Empire, this city produced a number of men of genius, such as Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore, who is still revered in India.
Of the places of genius Weiner discusses, only Silicon Valley still exists as such today, but the author opines that its days may be numbered. As places of genius go, it is already getting long in the tooth.
Weiner travels to each of these places, and others, to see what they are like today and to discuss with local authorities the reasons why genius bloomed, however temporarily, in these particular locales and not others. Although he tries to generalize, the reasons seem to vary from place to place. In Calcutta, he determines that cultural chaos may have stimulated genius, except that such chaos doesn't seem to be working today.
In Florence he says that genius is always communal, one genius stimulating another. In Scotland he finds that genius is practical and has a high tolerance for ambiguity. Tension is necessary in Vienna. In Silicon Valley he gives a share of the credit to moving vans, the fact that great computer minds keep coming and going, moving from one company to another, failing with one idea but then going on to the next.
In summary he says that creative cities need three T's: technology, talent and tolerance. And three D's: disorder, diversity and discernment. Yet true genius remains something that cannot be cultivated or predicted. Mostly it's just a matter of luck.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jsfecmd
Eric Weiner strikes again with a book about his travels to various cities throughout the world where renaissances of a sort have occurred. Fascinating - especially the one about China - never heard that story before. I love his writing style - look forward to reading more.
Language
ISBN
9781432837426