Skip to main content
  • Main menu
Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
  • Home
  • Study
    • Explore
    • Try
    • About
    • Multimedia
  • Lemelson Center Books
    • Research Opportunities
    • Archives
    • Lemelson Center Research
    • Symposia & Conferences
  • Places of Invention Comes to a Bookshelf Near You
Places of Invention book cover

Places of Invention Comes to a Bookshelf Near You

June 16, 2015

The "Places of Invention" companion book, edited by Arthur P. Molella and Anna Karvellas.

Twitter Facebook Tumblr Email Print

exhibitions_places-of-invention-book_cover-edit.jpg

Places of Invention book cover

With the contemporary buzz around innovation, the ideas behind Places of Invention could not be more timely. Building on twenty years of research by the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, this book asks: Why does invention flourish in one spot but struggle in another, very similar location? Is it simply being at the right place at the right time, or is it more than that? How does place—whether physical, social, or cultural—support, constrain, and shape innovation?  In short: Why there? Why then?

Places of Invention, the companion book to the exhibition at the National Museum of American History, explores what can happen when the right mix of inventive people, ready resources, and inspiring surroundings come together and spark invention and innovation. This lavishly illustrated volume examines current and historical conversation on the relationship between place and creativity, citing extensive scholarship and Lemelson Center investigation into the nature of invention and innovation. It dispels the myth of the lone inventor and shows that invention and innovation abound—not just in the Silicon Valleys of America but in hometowns across the country.

Through six case studies and nearly 200 images, exhibition curators tell the stories of people who lived, worked, played, collaborated, adapted, took risks, solved problems, and sometimes failed—all in the pursuit of something new:

  • Late 1800s Hartford, Connecticut and the beginnings of American mass production
  • 1930s Hollywood, California and breakthroughs in motion picture technology
  • 1950s Medical Alley, Minnesota and advances in life-saving medical technologies, treatments, and procedures
  • 1970s Bronx, New York and the birth of hip-hop’s unstoppable sound
  • 1970s-80s Silicon Valley, California and the origins of personal computing
  • 2010s Fort Collins, Colorado and its cutting-edge energy technologies

Interspersed with these case studies are dispatches from three Places of Invention “learning labs” in Seattle, Washington, Peoria, Illinois, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Smithsonian Affiliate museums and community partners are using Places of Invention as a model to document local invention and innovation. Here, Lemelson Center scholarship and public outreach converge to show how invention and innovation can be a transformative lens for understanding local history, cultivating creativity, and engaging communities.

A foreword by Robert E. Simon Jr., founder of the planned community of Reston, Virginia, illuminates the importance of place and community in shaping creative spaces. A provocative closing essay by public historian Dr. Lorraine McConaghy suggests how other state and local institutions might connect past to present and create a road map for transforming local regions into vibrant places of invention.

Contributors:

Joyce Bedi, Laurel Fritzsch, John L. Gray, Eric S. Hintz, Anna Karvellas, Lorraine McConaghy, Arthur P. Molella, Robert E. Simon, Jr., and Monica M. Smith

Purchase your copy today!

 

Tags

  • Places of Invention (Relevance: 26%)
  • Places of Invention Affiliates Project (Relevance: 5%)

Resources

Purchase your copy today Explore the Places of Invention interactive map Print version of Lemelson Institute report on Places of Invention (2007)

Related Stories

Entrance to the Places of Invention exhibition
Places of Invention

Places of Invention Exhibition Overview

Places of Invention takes visitors on a journey through time and place to meet people who lived, worked, played, collaborated, adapted, took risks, solved problems, and sometimes failed—all in the pursuit of something new.

Screenshot of pins on Places of Invention interactive map
Places of Invention

Tell Us Your Places of Invention Stories!

Know about a place of invention where you live? Add it to the Places of Invention interactive map! Or explore places that other people have shared. The world is an inventive place!

Prototype of the first computer mouse
Places of Invention

What Do the Bronx, Silicon Valley, and a Colorado College Town Have in Common?

"Places of Invention" opens in just a few weeks! Get a preview of the six case studies--and find out a way that you can add your own story.

The moon photographed through a telescope
Lemelson Center Research

Places of Invention: The Lemelson Institute

In August 2007, an interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners met to examine the relationship between physical spaces and creativity.

VIEW 2727 Matching Results

Found 2727 Stories

  • Agriculture and horticulture (Relevance: 5.2071873854052%)
  • Air and space (Relevance: 6.7473414008067%)
  • Archives@NMAH (Relevance: 8.4341767510084%)
  • Chemistry (Relevance: 3.0803080308031%)
  • Food and drink (Relevance: 3.3003300330033%)
  • Industry and manufacturing (Relevance: 7.5540887422076%)
  • Medicine, health, and life sciences (Relevance: 4.5837917125046%)
  • Military technology (Relevance: 3.3370003667033%)
  • Mining and drilling (Relevance: 3.4103410341034%)
  • Patents and trademarks (Relevance: 11.367803447011%)
  • Photography, film, television, and video (Relevance: 3.8503850385039%)
  • Power generation, motors, and engines (Relevance: 3.4470113678034%)
  • Spark!Lab (Relevance: 3.5203520352035%)
  • Textiles and clothing (Relevance: 3.3736707004034%)
  • Transportation (Relevance: 5.977264393106%)
  • Women inventors (Relevance: 3.3003300330033%)
❯
Go to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History website

About Menu

▼
Open menu
▲
Close menu
  • Explore
    • Blog
    • Invention Stories
    • Places of Invention
    • Beyond Words
  • Study
    • Research Opportunities
    • Archives
    • Lemelson Center Books
    • Lemelson Center Research
    • Symposia & Conferences
  • Try
    • DO Try This at Home!
    • Spark!Lab
    • Spark!Lab Network
    • Encouraging Innovative Thinking
  • About
    • Events
    • Exhibitions
    • News
    • Who We Are
    • FAQ
    • Donate
  • Multimedia
  • Tags
  • Surprise Me
  • Search
  • Open Drawer
Copyright 2023, Smithsonian Institution, All Rights Reserved
  • DONATE
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
Twitter Facebook Tumblr Email Print