The Geography of Genius

Acclaimed travel writer Eric Weiner sets out to examine the connection between our surroundings and our most innovative ideas. Part travelogue, part history, part inquiry into the science of creativity, the book visits Vienna of 1900, Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens, Song Dynasty Hangzhou and Silicon Valley to ask how certain urban settings become conducive to ingenuity.

Weiner walks the same paths as the thinkers who flourished in these places, among them Socrates, Michelangelo and Leonardo, to see whether the spirit that inspired them survives. His question throughout is "What was in the air, and can we bottle it?" With his trademark humor, he reevaluates the importance of culture in nurturing creativity and offers a practical map for becoming a bit more inventive.