A Brief History of Scientific & Technological Innovation, by Jielin Dong · Ebook (PDF), second edition; print edition by print-on-demand.
$12.99
Digital poster (PDF) — 2009 classic, revised 2026 · 36×24 in, download and print it yourself.
$19.99
Tsinghua scholar Xue Lan on how the book retells the history of innovation — human needs as its thread, vivid stories and rigorous data as its method.
Read the full article →Investor Yan Yan on incremental innovation versus major breakthroughs and the coming AI revolution — and why this book is a minority voice worth cherishing.
Read the full article →Historian of science Sun Xiaochun on the book's grand thought experiment — needs as warp, innovation as weft — and on an author who keeps revising her own views.
Read the full article →“Elegant prose, compelling stories, and rigorous analysis—an achievement that invites comparison with Sapiens.”
— Xue Lan, Dean of Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University
“The history of technological invention from the perspective of those who use technology, making it feel tangible and refreshingly new.”
— Sun Xiaochun, Professor, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
“Vivid, accessible language and stories rooted in everyday life ... showing how the world we live in came to be—and who brought it into being.”
— Zhiwu Chen, Chair Professor of Finance, The University of Hong Kong
“The quiet voices in the long tail of the spectrum of ideas become especially precious, because the future holds countless possibilities.”
— Yan Yan, Founding Managing Partner, SAIF Partners
“Dong weaves human needs into the historical warp and data analysis into the logical weft to examine how science and technology have shaped human history.”
— Guosheng Wu, Chair, Department of the History of Science, Tsinghua University
“Through quantitative analysis and exceptionally well-grounded arguments, the book offers illuminating answers.”
— Weigang Wan, Science Writer