Age of Discovery
Navigating the Risks and Rewards of Our New Renaissance
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ISBN10: 1250085098
ISBN13: 9781250085092
Hardcover
320 Pages
$27.99
CA$38.99
Now is the best moment in history to be alive, but we have never felt more anxious or divided. Human health, aggregate wealth and education are flourishing. Scientific discovery is racing forward. But the same global flows of trade, capital, people and ideas that make gains possible for some people deliver big losses to others—and make us all more vulnerable to one another.
Business and science are working giant revolutions upon our societies, but our politics and institutions evolve at a much slower pace. That’s why, in a moment when everyone ought to be celebrating giant global gains, many of us are righteously angry at being left out and stressed about where we’re headed.
To make sense of present shocks, we need to step back and recognize: we’ve been here before. The first Renaissance, the time of Columbus, Copernicus, Gutenberg and others, likewise redrew all maps of the world, democratized communication and sparked a flourishing of creative achievement. But their world also grappled with the same dark side of rapid change: social division, political extremism, insecurity, pandemics and other unintended consequences of discovery. Age of Discovery explores these parallels, and how we may flourish in the current era by learning from the Renaissance of the past.
Reviews
Praise for Age of Discovery
"A bold mega-analysis of global education, health, prosperity and technology . . . incisive and rich in context and granularity."—Nature
"An essential guide—and a superb ride—through our current stormy moment."—Arianna Huffington, Founder, President & Editor-in-Chief, Huffington Post
"Everyone should read it."—Michael Spence, Nobel Laureate in Economics
"A rich portrait . . . Powerful parallels . . . Essential insights for every emerging Michelangelo and da Vinci."—Reid Hoffman, Founder & Chairman, LinkedIn
"A remarkable feat of both history and prophecy. Ian and Chris have given us a gift of self-reflection that is indeed rare."—Larry Brilliant, former Executive Director, Google.org
"A much needed dose of perspective in our increasingly short-term focused world."—Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director, McKinsey & Co
"A call to action we all need to hear."—Kumi Naidoo, International Executive Director, Greenpeace
"A refreshing change from the shallow analyses and sterile nostrums of the right and the left . . . an impressive and important book."—Edmund Phelps, Nobel Laureate in Economics
"A hugely stimulating book . . . Everyone should heed the authors’ call."—Niall Ferguson, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History, Harvard University
"Outstanding insights for all those interested in the stresses of the modern world and how other ages have confronted them."—Andrew Hamilton, President, NYU & past Vice-Chancellor, Oxford University
"A very important reminder to grasp the opportunities in the many challenges we are facing today."—Hans-Paul Bürkner, Chairman, Boston Consulting Group
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Age of Discovery - Ian Goldin and Chris Kutarna, lecture video
Watch Ian Goldin's lecture, Brief History of Industrial Revolutions at the World Economic Forum.
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