Myths of Innovation – research accuracy

One of the promises made in The Myths of Innovation, was a commitment to research accuracy.  The book was heavily researched and footnoted, but it became clear to me how even the most heavily researched book can still have errors and mistakes.

This page is a living chronology of corrections, updates and fixes. In Sept 2010 the paperback edition of Myths was released, and all known issues, reported by readers and fans, were corrected.

Issues in Hardcover 2007 edition (Fixed in 2010 paperback)

  • Research accuracy
    • Pg 128, Dewey. John Dewey did not invent the Dewey decimal system. Melvil Dewey, no relation, did in 1876. (Confirmed error)
    • Pg 115, it is written that the Japanese invented firearms years before Europeans. However the reference to “The Evolution of Technology”, p. 189, doesn’t mention this, and on the contrary p. 188 states that firearms were introduced to the Japanese by the Portuguese in 1543. (Investigating)
  • Fixed Typos
    • Pg 12 Fennyman should be Feynman.
    • Pg 19: “the Stone is a more of” should be “The stone is more of”.
    • Pg 39 Goethe quote is possibly mis-attributed (see also).
    • Pg 43 Middle: Ray Kroc’s name is misspelled “Ray Crok”.
    • Pg 43 Craiglist should be Craigslist.
    • Pg 49 Craiglist should be Craigslist.
    • Pg 49 This well never work -> This will never work.
    • Pg 74 Bottom: Von Braun’s name is misspelled as “Van Braun”.
    • Pg 74 Bottom: Zworykin is misspelled as Zworkin.
    • (Figure 6-4) Pg 89: At bottom of chart: “mediation” should be “meditation”?
    • Pg 104 Top: “manager” is misspelled “manger”
    • Pg 114 Middle: “affects us” should be than “effects us”?
    • Pg 121 Correct Voltaire quote is “The best is the enemy of the good”
    • Pg 129 “succeed” should be “succeeded”
    • Pg 145 “a matter if time” should be “a matter of time”
    • Pg 150: “Businness” should be “Business”
    • Pg 150 Middle: “canon” is misspelled “cannon”
    • Pg 158 Middle: “Eureka” is misspelled “Eurkea”

If you have something to add, please contact me.

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12 thoughts on “Myths of Innovation – research accuracy”

  • Piotr Konieczny - September 7, 2011 at 12:51 pm #

  • In paperpback, p.4, you write: “It is disputed whether Newton ever observed an apple fall”. The reliable sources at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton#Apple_analogy do suggest that he did, as his contemporaries mention him speaking of it. Of course, he was never, indeed, hit by one. If the observation is disputed, well, please cite your sources. Who disputes it? [citation needed]

  • Reply
    • Scott Berkun - October 29, 2011 at 7:00 am #

    • Simply because he spoke of it is hardly strong evidence. Gleick and others refer to how his story grew in strength as he aged, suggesting something may have happened, but that he embellished it over time.

    • Reply
  • Eriza - October 9, 2010 at 2:18 pm #

  • Hi Scott,

    Page 75 of the paperback edition: I believe it is Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz who was one of the inventors of calculus. Friedrich Leibniz was his father, a prof of moral philosophy (wikipedia).

    Cheers,
    E

  • Reply
  • Gary Frerking - September 8, 2010 at 11:08 am #

  • Working my way through the new paperback edition. Laughed out loud at the Rosetta Stone incident (mostly because it reminded me of a very similar incident involving myself and the Liberty Bell).

    Anyway… I believe your accounting of the Post-It Notes tale (page 41) may have some accuracy issues. I just happened to read a detailed accounting of the story in “The Human Side of Managing Technological Innovation: A Collection of Readings” by Ralph Katz and according to that, Spencer Silver was the inventor of the adhesive who shopped it around 3m for years and Art Fry actually was the choir singer who realized the use for it (recalling one of Spencer’s seminar talks about it). Art was also instrumental in getting the buy in @ 3m by flooding internal administrative staff with prototype versions of the notes, essentially getting them addicted to them.

  • Reply
  • Danny Solomon - April 30, 2010 at 5:49 am #

  • Hi Scott – not sure you saw the below which I sent soon after I read the book. Happy to help with the revision in any way. Regards, Danny

    From: DANIEL SOLOMON
    To: info@scottberkun.com
    Sent: Thursday, 12 July, 2007 20:50:12
    Subject: The Myths of Innovation – thanks, comments, suggestion, typos

    Scott

    I have just finished The Myths of Innovation. Thank you.

    I have a couple of comments, one book recommendation for you, and a couple of typos:

    Comments:

    The footnotes: I was distracted by the footnotes that were simply a reference to the text – but I couldn’t ignore them because lots of footnotes were worth reading – digressions, explanations, etc. So could I suggest distinguishing the “boring” ones by making the
    footnote references in the text grey or something, so I’d know I could safely ignore them and carry on reading. Sounds trivial, I know, but I found the flow interrupted.

    The last sentence on page 51 floored me – I must have read it half a dozen times but not sure I understand it yet

    On page 14 you write “the most useful way to think of epiphany…”; on page 8 you write “The best way to think of epiphany…” which I found in combination a bit dissonant

    Page 46: the order or 3M, Craigslist and Flickr does not match the order in which you go on to describe them, which was disorientating

    Page 70: Can I (highly) recommend http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805067906/scottberkunco-20/ as a great read and a possible counter-example to your description of fame accruing to those that make something effective. It’s the story of Penicillin – Fleming noticed the effect but could do nothing useful with it – it became a drug because of the work of Florey and colleagues who for various reasons escapeed the limelight. Who is remembered now? Fascinating stuff.

    Page 74: “never be made all at once” – wondering whether James Dyson of vacuum cleaner fame is one such example (or have I succumbed to the hype?)

    page 85: “Comprehendible” – is this English in America? It isn’t English in England, if you get my drift :-)

    The list on Page 57 is close to the list on page 88 – could be combined or referenced

    What is IDEO? Page 4 and Page 103

    Page 121: I’d always known this as “The best is the enemy of the good” – ie know what’s good enough and get it out there rather than wait or work harder for best, or perfection.

    Typos (which I’m sure you’ll know by now but as I’m writing anyway):

    Page 49: Cragislist.org

    Page 92: Rule #3 para “forces” => “force”

    Page 104: “manger”

    Please accept these comments/typos in the spirit in which they are offered – I greatly enjoyed the book and I thank you again.

    Regards, Danny

  • Reply
  • Berthold - April 13, 2010 at 3:33 am #

  • I just found your site yesterday and enjoy reading your insights. The world definitely needs more gurus (I know you don’t like the term, but I’m at a loss as to what else to call you) in order to fix what issues corporate politics and economy have perpetuated these last centuries. I don’t think small people will ever die out, but maybe we can at least keep them from running big things.

    Now, I haven’t read any of your books and thus I can’t know the context in which you refer to Japanese firearm invention on page 115, but I thought I’d let you know that gunpowder was first invented in neighbouring China centuries before it was rediscoverd in Europe. The weapons started out predictably crude, so I can’t really say how precise the term “firearm” applies here. Also, according to Wikipedia, the Mongols used gunpowder-based weapons when conquering Japan during the Yuan Dynasty, well before the Portuguese ever set foot on the island.

    Thanks for an inspiring site.

  • Reply
  • Eric Stanley - October 3, 2009 at 2:00 am #

  • Dewey Decimal System (also known as Dewey Decimal Classification was indeed developed by Melvil Dewey in 1876, and has been greatly modified and expanded through 22 major revisions, the most recent in 2004.

  • Reply
  • Andreas Scherer - October 2, 2009 at 12:04 am #

  • Hi, Scott,

    Please do not use the superlative in the quote of Voltaire:
    “The _better_ is the enemy of the good.”
    This gives room for further improvement.

    Cheers

  • Reply
  • Andreas Scherer - October 1, 2009 at 1:44 pm #

  • Hi, Scott,

    I’d like to add the following corrections for the first edition of MoI:

    Page 64: To be ahead of its time implies _that_ an idea has a time
    Page 144: everyone has different needs, values, _ideas_, and desires

    Cheers

  • Reply
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