“In this superb book, Chelsea Follett takes the reader on a time-travel cruise through the great flash points of human activity to catch innovations that have transformed human lives.”
―from the foreword by MATT RIDLEY, author of The Rational Optimist, The Evolution of Everything, and How Innovation Works
ABOUT CENTERS OF PROGRESS
Where does progress happen? The story of civilization is the story of the city. It is cities that have created and defined the modern world by acting as the sites of pivotal advances in culture, politics, science, technology, and more. There is no question that certain places, at certain times in history, have contributed disproportionately toward making the world a better place. This book tells the story of forty of those places.
In Centers of Progress: 40 Cities that Changed the World, Chelsea Follett examines a diverse group of cities, ranging from ancient Athens to Song-era Hangzhou. But some common themes stand out: most cities reach their creative peak during periods of peace; most centers of progress also thrive during times of social, intellectual, and economic freedom, as well as openness to intercultural exchange and trade; and centers of progress tend to be highly populated. Because, in every city, it is ultimately the people who live there who drive progress forward―if given the freedom to do so.
Identifying common factors―such as relative peace, freedom, and multitudes―among the places that have produced history's greatest achievements is one way to learn what causes progress. Change is a constant, but progress is not. Understanding what makes a place fertile ground for progress may help to sow the seeds of future innovations.
Moreover, their story is our story. City air provides the wind in the sails of the modern world. Come journey through these pages to some of history's greatest centers of progress.
Also check out the other book in the series, Heroes of Progress.
PRAISE FOR CENTERS OF PROGRESS
Steven Pinker
"Some times and places seem almost magical in the way they incubate ideas and movements. In explaining the magic in this fascinating book, Chelsea Follett shines a light on the drivers of human progress."
author of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
Tyler Cowen
founder of
Marginal Revolution
"Chelsea Follett's Centers of Progress makes urban history interesting again, indeed fascinating. These 40 tales help to explain where modern life comes from and give a broader intellectual and historical tour of the world."
“Chelsea Follett has written a book telling a history of human ingenuity covering 12,000 years! We learn this astonishing epic by reading about the life—and sometimes the death—of 40 cities on five continents. There is a common thread linking these urban biographies: people of different cultures meeting in cities doted with a degree of intellectual freedom develop an ability to solve technical and social problems. And because cities communicate, their inventions slowly add up and soon spread across continents, benefiting humanity. Centers of Progress provides an optimistic, well-documented view of the world. We badly need this long-term perspective!”
Alain Bertaud
author of Order Without Design: How Markets Shape Cities
“Endlessly fascinating, wide-ranging, and provocative, Centers of Progress takes us on a tour of the most creative moments of human history. Chelsea Follett moves us around the globe and across millennia. From the invention of agriculture to the digital revolution, Follett shows us the many ways in which cities have freed the imagination and brought forth new ideas that improved our lives. An inspiring rebuttal to stories of decline, Follett demonstrates that whenever people were free to gather, interact, and innovate, progress followed.”
Jack A. Goldstone
author of Why Europe? The Rise of the West in World History, 1500–1850
Johan Norberg
author of Open: The Story of Human Progress
“We shouldn't just study the past to avoid repeating mistakes; we should also go there to be inspired by remarkable episodes of creativity and progress. And Chelsea Follett is the perfect tour guide. Centers of Progress is a comprehensive history lesson packed with facts yet always an enjoyable and easily accessible read.”
“Cities have long been places that foster innovation and flourishing. They could just as well be called ‘labor markets,' ‘population clusters,' or ‘agglomerations' where people merge and, operating from market signals and personal need, produce stuff others find beneficial. Chelsea Follett's book Centers of Progress describes the historical role that cities played in such advancement. From medical innovations that sprang off the Nile River in the third millennium BC in Egypt to the defeat of ruinous ‘-isms' and rise of the 20th-century liberal order, urban centers made it happen. Underlying Follett's work is the case for fostering the market economies that will help cities continue this role in the future.”
Scott Beyer
author of Market Urbanism: A Vision for Free-Market Cities
Jason Crawford
“The best way to understand progress is to study history: the case studies of how it actually happened. Here are dozens of such stories―concise and readable―from all over the world, which is a reminder that progress can come from anywhere.”
founder of
The Roots of Progress
Art Diamond
author of Openness to Creative Destruction: Sustaining Innovative Dynamism
“Chelsea Follett guides us through 40 cities where innovations enabled humanity to progress to longer and better lives. We revisit beloved cities that are well-known to us from travel or reading, such as Athens, London, and New York. But we also learn of the achievements of exotic and underappreciated cities, such as Budj Bim, Nan Madol, and Chang'an. Many of Follett's cities were bastions of freedom in a landscape that was otherwise much less free. She reminds us why our beleaguered cities are worth saving.”
Michael J. Douma
co-editor of
What Is Classical
Liberal History?
“By looking at cities as the centers of progress, this book recasts world history as a developing set of ideas and technologies. This is a much welcome alternative to the approaches to the past that see nations, social classes, or institutions as the drivers and carriers of history. Follett reminds us that history is made by people and that when people congregate in cities, they become more innovative and contribute more to historical development. It is a positive story that everyone can learn from.”
Richard Florida
author of
The Rise of the
Creative Class
“Cities are our greatest invention. From ancient cities like Jericho and Uruk to Athens and Rome and onward to Vienna, Kyoto, Florence, Berlin, Paris, London, New York, San Francisco, and many more, Chelsea Follett shows how cities power human progress in technology, arts, and across the board. An absolute must read for mayors, urban leaders, businesspeople, and anyone concerned about the future of our cities, economy, and society.”
John Nye
author of War, Wine, and Taxes: The Political Economy of Anglo-French Trade, 1689–1900
“The story of human progress in all its forms is the story of civilization's greatest achievements. So, what better way to teach about those accomplishments than through a focus on the cities that were usually there at the beginning? In Centers of Progress, Chelsea Follett elegantly and briskly goes through most of our greatest accomplishments from the beginnings of agriculture to medicine, trade, and currency and to big ideas and events like the foundations of liberal democracy, emancipation, suffrage, and the fall of Communism. And it ends, quite appropriately, with the digital revolution. To be read by all, from children to centenarians.”
WHERE ARE THE
CENTERS OF PROGRESS?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHELSEA FOLLETT is a policy analyst at the Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty & Prosperity and the managing editor of HumanProgress.org, a project of the Cato Institute that seeks to educate the public on the global improvements in well‐being by providing free empirical data on long‐term developments. Her writing has been published in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Newsweek, Forbes, The Hill, Business Insider, National Review, and the Washington Examiner. She was named to Forbes' 30 under 30 list for 2018 in the category of Law & Policy.
San Francisco
Baghdad
Mainz
San Francisco
LESSON PLANS
Explore the locations that have served as hubs for human progress and innovation throughout world history. Students will delve into the stories of significant cities and regions, examining their contributions in fields such as science, technology, arts, and governance, fostering a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of societies and the impact of key cultural and intellectual centers.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
[Chelsea Follett] sets out to show how famous cities, or at least large “gathering places,” have advanced human problem solving over millennia.
Follett is a lively writer and, to her credit, has a pretty decent sense for trying to depict both the development of things that are now familiar to us from our own world, while also keeping in mind just how strange and different places in the past might seem to us.
Watch to learn how how if given the freedom to do so, ultimately people drive progress forward.
It is an interesting historical fact that certain cities in certain times have had an outsized effect on our world.
Cities and Prosperity
Chelsea Follett joins Jordan McGillis to discuss cities as centers of intellectual and economic progress.
Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World
Follett sees cities, or at least the progress-forward cities in her book, as great classrooms, where learning and debate are constant and in fact unavoidable.
I am excited to have Chelsea Follett on to talk to us about her new book Centers of Progress: 40 Cities that Changed the World.
The following is an interview conducted by Clay Routledge with Chelsea Follett. We discuss her new book, Centers of Progress.
In this episode of Political Economy, Chelsea Follett previews her new book, Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World.
From Uruk to Florence to Tokyo, most civilizational advances have occurred in cities, where people come together to compete and exchange ideas.
CATO AUDIO
In Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World, Chelsea Follett examines a diverse group of cities, ranging from ancient Athens to Song-era Hangzhou.
When we think of cultural invention, human flourishing, and technological innovation, we tend also to think of great cities. A look at 40 of them proves instructive as to what makes true progress possible.
By understanding what historical conditions have prompted progress, as a society we can understand how to stimulate innovation in the future.
By creating the first writing system, the people of Uruk revolutionized humanity's ability to share information.
If you are fortunate enough to live in a city that is thriving and innovative, preserving peace and freedom is vital.
By embracing diverse peoples and ideas, what began as a small fishing town became a prosperous global capital of philosophy, science, and art.
How Cities Can Change the World
From ancient citadels to modern skyscrapers, the story of how cities changed the world.
Great Antidote Extra: Chelsea Follett on Cities That Changed the World
Some of the most important progress in human history comes through the solutions to lowly problems: Clean water. Clean air. Clean laundry. Light to see by. Access to fresh food. Humble progress is progress.
Superstar cities come and go. Shouldn't that matter?
The Cities that Shaped Us with Chelsea Follett
The book looks at 40 cities throughout history that made major contributions to human progress, starting with ancient cities like Jericho that developed agriculture to modern cities like San Francisco that drove the digital revolution.
It is cities that have created and defined the modern world by acting as the sites of pivotal advances in culture, politics, science, technology, and more.
October 2, 2023
4 - 5 PM EDT
F.A. Hayek Auditorium, Cato Institute
John J. Miller is joined by Chelsea Follett to discuss her new book, Centers of Progress.
Where and when does progress happen? Certain places at certain times are special and Follett show why with two examples close to the life of Adam Smith: Edinburgh, Scotland and Paris, France.
Chelsea’s book takes listeners on an intellectual and historical tour of cities’ golden ages, providing a fascinating exploration of the rise and fall of different cities, and their profound impact on progress and freedom.
Where does progress happen? The story of civilization is the story of the city.
Our interview this week is with Chelsea Follett, managing editor of HumanProgress.org. We talk about her fascinating new book, Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World.
Where Innovation Happens
Follett tells her tale of human progress from the Neolithic to the digital age by providing eight-page capsule “biographies” of forty cities, identifying each one with some important aspect of human innovation.
Juliette Sellgren talks with Chelsea Follett about the latter’s new book on cities that changed the world.
Un proyecto del Instituto Cato que busca educar el público acerca del progreso humano a nivel mundial.
A new book tells the tale of human progress through the advancements of 40 cities, from the ancient to the contemporary.
When we think of cultural invention, human flourishing, and technological innovation, we tend also to think of great cities. A look at 40 of them proves instructive as to what makes true progress possible.
When our hunter gatherer ancestors settled in communities they were at their creative, innovative and productive best. Chelsea Follett features 40 cities where human development began.
Chelsea Follett discusses her book, Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World, on Sirius XM’s The David Webb Show guest hosted by Tim Young
