Tag along upon this New York Times bestselling “witty, entertaining romp” (The New York Times Book Review) while Eric Winer travels the globe, from Athens to Silicon Valley-and back again through history, too-to present how creative genius flourishes in specific places at particular times.

Within this “intellectual odyssey, traveler’s journal, and comic book all rolled into one” (Daniel Gilbert, writer of Stumbling on Happiness), acclaimed travel writer Weiner models out to examine the connection between our about The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World’s Most Creative Areas from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley surroundings and our most innovative ideas. A “outstanding travel information: funny, educated, and self-deprecating” (The Washington Post), he explores the history of places like Vienna of 1900, Renaissance Florence, historic Athens, Song Dynasty Hangzhou, and Silicon Valley showing how certain metropolitan settings are conducive to ingenuity. Along with his trademark insightful humor, this “big-hearted humanist” (The Wall Street Journal) walks the same paths as the geniuses who flourished in these settings to find out if the nature of what influenced figures like Socrates, Michelangelo, and Leonardo remains. In these areas, Weiner asks, “What was in the air, and can we container it?”

“Fun and thought provoking” (Miami Herald), The Geography of Genius reevaluates the need for lifestyle in nurturing imagination and “gives a practical map for how we can all become a little more inventive” (Adam Offer, author of Originals).