innovation
Light bulb moment: the flaw in the petrol car ban
This week, writing in the Daily Mail, Matt Ridley produced a devastating takedown of the government’s 2030 ban on the…
Alive with innovation: British art between the world wars
When I mentioned the subject of this book to someone reasonably well-informed about 20th-century British art, the response was: ‘Isn’t…
Sense and sensibility: Steven Pinker and Rory Sutherland on reason vs instinct
Steven Pinker and Rory Sutherland on reason vs instinct
Here’s a clue: we should all be doing cryptic crosswords
I was once asked by a previous editor of the Timeshow to increase sales of the paper. I was slightly…
The 31 inventions that Britain really needs
‘Get Brexit done, then Arpa’ read Dominic Cummings’s WhatsApp profile. Arpa was what’s now the American Defense Advanced Research Projects…
The Egyptians knew the value of accidental discoveries
The government has plans to fund a new research agency to back ‘cutting-edge science’. Ptolemaios (Ptolemy) I (367-282 bc), the…
Is it time to reopen technology’s cold cases?
One of the staples of crime drama is the ‘cold-case squad’. This allows programme-makers to add period detail to the…
Why I won’t patent my brilliant idea
In the past 30 years, I have driven about 8,000 miles in France in right-hand-drive cars. And I would be…
The other side to the division of labour: the concentration of attention
Adam Smith’s theory on the division of labour first appeared in 1776 in The Wealth of Nations. The idea was…
The most important test that HS2 doesn’t pass
Despite my opposition to High Speed 2, I am quite a big fan of HS1, the line which runs from…
