The companion book to an upcoming museum exhibition of the same name, Places of Invention seeks to answer timely questions about the nature of invention and innovation: What is it about some places that sparks invention and innovation? Is it simply being at the right place at the right time, or is it more than that? How does “place”—whether physical, social, or cultural—support, constrain, and shape innovation? Why does invention flourish in one spot but struggle in another, even very similar location? In short: Why there? Why then? Places of Invention frames current and historic conversation on the relationship between place and creativity, citing extensive scholarship in the area and two decades of investigation and study from the National Museum of American History’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. The book is built around six place case studies: Hartford, CT, late 1800s; Hollywood, CA, 1930s; Medical Alley, MN, 1950s; Bronx, NY,1970s; Silicon Valley, CA, 1970s–1980s; and Fort Collins, CO, 2010s. Interspersed with these case studies are dispatches from three “learning labs” detailing Smithsonian Affiliate museums’ work using Places of Invention as a model for documenting local invention and innovation. Written by exhibition curators, each part of the book focuses on the central thesis that invention is everywhere and fueled by unique combinations of creative people, ready resources, and inspiring surroundings. Like the locations it explores, Places of Invention shows how the history of invention can be a transformative lens for understanding local history and cultivating creativity on scales of place ranging from the personal to the national and beyond.

Why do some inventors succeed and others fail? A private equity pioneer explores personal traits and processes that worked for thirty innovators—or didn’t. Jeremy Coller, a pioneer in the world of private equity, argues that there are three basic personality types in the arena of invention. The Principal, Broker, and Consultant each display certain traits that dictate the potential for success, but few people have the full package. Failure results when an individual who excels in one area of competence attempts to become all things. Thus, even accomplished geniuses can end up penniless. In Splendidly Unreasonable Inventors, Coller focuses on the individual rather than the invention—and explores the ways in which he or she did or did not succeed in bringing their vision to fruition. On one level, the book is a collection of fascinating stories packed with quirky, often humorous nuggets of information. On another level, these stories provide an unconventional look at the processes and personalities that created products that changed the world, including: Jonas Salk and the polio vaccine King Gillette and the safety razor Alfred Nobel and dynamite Sam Colt and the revolver Rudolph Diesel and the diesel engine, and more