How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World

by Steven Johnson

If there is a common thread to the time travelers, beyond the nonexplanation of genius, it is this: they worked at the margins of their official fields, or at the intersection point between very different disciplines.

To a certain extent, the time travelers remind us that working within an established field is both empowering and restricting at the same time.

The time travelers are unusually adept at “intercrossing” different fields of expertise. That’s the beauty of the hobbyist: it’s generally easier to mix different intellectual fields when you have a whole array of them littering your study or your garage.