How to Fly a Horse

Until now, we've never fully understood the nature of creation. Kevin Ashton, a technology and robotics pioneer who has experienced firsthand the all-consuming challenge of creating something new, demystifies this sacred act in How to Fly a Horse. Beginning with his own sometimes-fruitless efforts to create robots at MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab, Ashton leads us on a journey through history’s greatest creations to uncover the surprising truth behind who creates and how they do it. From the crystallographer’s laboratory where DNA secrets were first revealed by a long-forgotten woman to the bicycle shop where the Wright brothers set out to “fly a horse,” Ashton showcases the seemingly unremarkable individuals, gradual steps, multiple failures—and countless ordinary and usually uncredited acts—that lead to humanity’s greatest breakthroughs. Drawing on examples from Michelangelo to Japanese origami masters, Galileo to Oprah Winfrey, and Kekule to Coco Chanel, Ashton explores human creativity from every angle in this highly original and moving book.