Books are our first and most lasting form of information technology. Books preserve ideas, yes, but they also provoke new ones— they are true tools for thinking. In The Idea Machine, Joel J. Miller shows that books are one of the most important but overlooked factors in the making of our contemporary world. And they still have lessons to teach us.
Polls indicate reading is on the decline, but as we deal with concerns about artificial intelligence and social and political division, the history of the book offers a path of understanding and patterns for engagement. They can even help us navigate what’s coming next. Starting with the surge of book culture in ancient Athens and then moving through the centuries, from monks and militaries to rebellions and the Renaissance, and even to more modern-day implications of books as tools of liberation and the novel’s impact on our humanity, Miller highlights the features and functions that make books indispensable to cultural evolution. Subject to its own periods of technological upheaval and social unrest, the history of the book can point us away from failed past responses and toward more fruitful adaptations that will benefit us all. The Idea Machine reframes the history of the book as the eye-opening story of humanity’s first mobile information device. Books do more than record thinking; they serve as tools to facilitate it.
More than a history of the book as an object or a simple consideration of the literature it has contained, The Idea Machine is the history of the book as a technology that transformed the peoples and societies that embraced it, and which maintains a vital role in a world where technological advancements seem to render it obsolete and ideological division might render our shared future untenable.
Joel J. Miller is a former publishing executive with a twenty-year career in writing and editorial work. Today Miller is the chief product officer of Full Focus (FullFocus.co) which produces books, podcasts, courses, and the widely acclaimed Full Focus Planner. First launched in 2017, the Full Focus Planner has now sold over 1 million copies and has been featured in the New York Times, Real Simple, Los Angeles Times, Fast Company, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, and other outlets. Miller also publishes Millers Book Review (MillersBookReview.com) a popular Substack celebrating literary culture and all things bookish. Miller is the author of The Revolutionary Paul Revere and Lifted by Angels, among others, and his writing has appeared in Reason, The Washington Post, American Spectator, and National Review. Miller lives outside Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, kids, dogs, and more books than space.
Introduction
Marginalia: Ideas Across Time
Basics
Marginalia: The Genesis of Writing
Marginalia: Notes to Self
Marginalia: Cicero’s Analog AI
Marginalia: By the Book
Marginalia: St. Augustine’s Tome
Developments
Marginalia: Rethinking the Book
Marginalia: Upping the Data Game
Marginalia: One Language to Another
Marginalia: Paper Pushers
Marginalia: Readers Unleashed
Applications
Marginalia: The Third Variable
Marginalia: Uncommon Impact
Marginalia: Malcolm X’s Alma Mater
Marginalia: The Color of Controversy
Marginalia: Back to the Beginning
Reflections
Thanks
Notes
Image Credits
Index
“As an avid book lover, I feel like this is the book about books I’ve been waiting for my whole life—and didn’t even know it. The Idea Machine is history, literary criticism, philosophy, and bibliophilia all in one—one fascinating, illuminating, and delightful read.” —Karen Swallow Prior, author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life in Great Books
~Karen Swallow Prior, author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life in Great Books, “As an avid book lover, I feel like this is the book about books I’ve been waiting for my whole life—and didn’t even know it. The Idea Machine is history, litera
As an avid book lover, I feel like this is the book about books I’ve been waiting for my whole life—and didn’t even know it. The Idea Machine is history, literary criticism, philosophy, and bibliophilia all in one—one fascinating, illuminating, and delightful read.
~William J. Bennett, New York Times bestselling author, former U.S. Secretary of Education, “Joel J. Miller shows that books are more than containers of ideas and vessels for words—they are engines of civilization and moral formation. The Idea Machine
"From the invention of books to the beginnings of AI, Joel Miller has turned the story of books into a truly informative and fun read.” —Armand D’Angour, Professor of Classics, Oxford University
~Armand D’Angour, Professor of Classics, Oxford University, "From the invention of books to the beginnings of AI, Joel Miller has turned the story of books into a truly informative and fun read.”
“A love letter and a revelation about the power of books. Compelling and fascinating history written as an adventure story with the book as hero!” —Gregg Hecimovich, prize-winning historian, author of The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts
~Gregg Hecimovich, prize-winning historian, author of The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts, “A love letter and a revelation about the power of books. Compelling and fascinating history written as an adventure story with the book as hero!”
“A captivating journey through the history of books, libraries, and the written word, and a tribute to the book as one of humanity’s most enduring inventions. This is a celebration of how long-form writing and reading has shaped us—and a warning against leaving it behind.” —Martin Puchner, professor of English and Comparative Literature, Harvard University
~Martin Puchner, professor of English and Comparative Literature, Harvard University, “A captivating journey through the history of books, libraries, and the written word, and a tribute to the book as one of humanity’s most enduring inventions. This is
“A compelling and meticulously researched exploration. Miller argues that books are dynamic ‘idea machines’ that have upgraded our cognitive abilities, shaped societal structures, and powered cultural evolution. In the AI era, understanding this history is necessary and urgent.” —Hollis Robbins, professor of English, University of Utah
~Hollis Robbins, professor of English, University of Utah, “A compelling and meticulously researched exploration. Miller argues that books are dynamic ‘idea machines’ that have upgraded our cognitive abilities, shaped societal structures, and powere
“With a scope that extends from ancient times to the present, The Idea Machine is a rich, compelling and important investigation of the book as a technology and an instrument of humanism. Miller’s conclusions, including on the importance of books and the futility of banning them, are acutely relevant to today.” —Stuart Kells, prize-winning historian, author of The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders and Shakespeare’s Library
~Stuart Kells, prize-winning historian, author of The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders and Shakespeare’s Library, “With a scope that extends from ancient times to the present, The Idea Machine is a rich, compelling and important investigation of the b
