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Join Emily, Meredith, & Frank as they discuss disruptive technology – from germ theory to refrigeration, and clocks to computers. We’ll go beyond the buzzwords to explore what the modern tech industry gets wrong about innovation, and what disruption really looks like throughout history. SPOILER ALERT: It has nothing to do with the latest iPhone or tech startup.

Additional Links & Resources:

Quote from James Burke:

“People tend to become experts in highly specialized fields, learning more and more about less and less.

“Unfortunately, so much specialization falsely creates the illusion that knowledge and discovery exist in a vacuum, in context only with their own disciplines, when in reality they are born from interdisciplinary connections. Without an ability to see these connections, history and science won’t be learnable in a truly meaningful way and innovation will be stifled.” (source)

The Five Most Disruptive Innovations at CES 2015 via Forbes

The Day the Universe Changed. Companion to the PBS Television Series by James Burke (book)

The Day The Universe Changed (PBS Television Series)

Fresh Insights From Clay Christensen on Disruptive Innovation via Forbes

One More Time: What is Disruptive Innovation? via Harvard Business Review

The Disruption Machine via the New Yorker (Jill Lepore’s criticism of Christensen’s theories)

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

ISBN-10: 1594633932
ISBN-13: 978-1594633935

In 1850, Ignaz Semmelweis Saved Lives With Three Words: Wash Your Hands via pbs.org

History of the Clock: Timeline of Clocks & Watches

John Harrison and the Invention of the Chronometer

The original Harrison Clock