Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World

Wonderland : How Play Made the Modern World (2016) by Steven Johnson is an interesting read about the impact of how luxuries and amusements have had on history. Johnson wrote a superb book called ‘How we got to now’ that had a limited number of key inventions that he says lead to the modern world. Wonderland is similarly constructed.The book looks at shopping, music, taste, illusion, games and public space. The chapter on shopping looks at how the development of shopping fed growth. When looking at music the fact that humans like music and the importance of automatic players is described. Taste concentrates on the importance of the spice trade. Illusion looks at spiritual shows and finally Disney. Games looks at Chess and early computer games. Public space describes pubs and other public spaces.Johnson is a fine writer and a lot of the information in the book is fascinating. His descriptions of the mechanical works of Iranian engineers is amazing. However, the book is undermined in that the main thesis running through it is oversold. The book is worth reading for a well written and interesting diversion though.

When I was a kid, I loved going to Disneyland. It is such a magical place. It is full of music, lights, animals, pirates, ghosts and so much more. As an adult I still find Disneyland a magical place. Though I know a lot of the secrets behind the magic, I am amazed at how I can find a magical kingdom smack dab in the middle of Orange County. But when you really take a step back and look at the wonders of Disneyland (and the Disney Company as a whole) you realize how the entire entity is completely unnecessary. To survive, we don’t need Disneyland. From an evolutionary perspective, Disneyland is a complete waste of resources.Or maybe not.This is the basis of the book Wonderland. The old bromide states that life’s greatest technological achievements were created from necessity. Times of war or famine have brought us revolutionary advances in atomic energy and agriculture practices. However, in this work, Johnson argues that the greatest achievements in human history were not built around necessity but around play. From fashion, music, taste, magic, games and public spaces, some of the greatest inventions were built from play. It is amazing to trace the evolution of computers to the development of music recorders or how our appetite for trickery led to the visual representations like film and video. The weakest chapter is probably the last one on public spaces, this chapter felt flat and perhaps quite obvious to the reader.This a very interesting book much in the spirit of his other work How We Got to Now. Though Wonderland does not live up to How We Got to Now, it is still a very interesting book.

This is the first book I've read by Steven Johnson, and I enjoyed the way he traced the development of major technological and cultural innovations back to roots which were less utilitarian and more aesthetic or even hedonistic. But with the possible exception of the chapter on games, most of the book is not about the role of play in shaping society, so much as the impact of the human appetite for novel, surprising, and pleasurable sensory experiences (e.g., the visual displays of upscale shopping venues or phantasmagoria, the tactile pleasures of cotton, the taste of nutmeg).

This book puts a whole new spin on the concept of "play"- taking it well beyond childhood or leisure games. As in Johnson's other books, this book guides the reader on wonderful journeys through history - social, political, technological - and you end up in some surprising locations. This book got me thinking about "play" in many different ways - and the outcomes that "play" had for our present and may have for our future. This is my third book by Mr. Johnson-- all are well written, researched, and worth reading.

Well-written page turner that links the Close juxtaposition of play with invention and creativity.A must read. Very thought provoking.

I had never thought of this perspective on human behavior. It will influence my philosophy of human activity, even of politics.

Interesting. The idea itself is very playful, and the author elaborated the history well into supporting his theory. It offers a different perspective, offering a new insight of the same history I learned in classroom.

Lots of good connections to leisure, innovation and history but a little wordy for some of the points made. Fun read.

Bought as gift.l

interesting book

Ensayo interesantes sobre parques de atracciones y lo que hay en torno a ellos y su diseño y lo que atrae a sus visitantes

Informative, enlightening and entertaining. Who knew that play for the sake of play has contributed so much to our world!

excellent