The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves - Hardcover

A fabulous new book... I was so delighted, amused and uplifted by it that I bought a couple hundred copies and sent one to all my clients.--Donald Luskin, Smart Money

"Invigorating...For Mr. Ridley, the market for ideas needs to be as open as possible in order to breed ingenuity from collaboration."--Trevor Butterworth, Wall Street Journal

"A mesmerizing book."--Los Angeles Times

"A very good book...a rich analysis...Ridley is a cogent and erudite social critic...He bolsters his argument with an impressive tour of evolutionary biology, economics, philosophy, world history."--Washington Post

"A delightful and fascinating book filled with insight and wit, which will make you think twice and cheer up."--Steven Pinker

"This inspiring book, a glorious defense of our species...is a devastating rebuke to humanity's self-haters."--Sunday Times (London)

"A superb book...Elegant, learned, and cogent...a far-reaching synthesis of economics and ecology, a triumphant new demarche in the understanding of wealth and poverty...Inspiring."--George Gilder, National Review

"A fast-moving, intelligent description of why human life has so consistently improved over the course of history, and a wonderful overview of how human civilizations move forward."--John Tierney, New York Times

"A dose of just the kind of glass-half-full information we need right now...A powerful antidote to gloom-n-doom-mongering."--Washington Examiner

"Ridley's dazzling, insightful and entertaining book on the unstoppable march of innovation is a refresher course in human history...Great ideas spring up unexpectedly from every direction, with each new one naturally coordinating with others..."--New York Post

By looking at human history from its very beginning, the author argues disasters, downturns and setbacks are just part of a millenia-long cycle of increasing prosperity that will continue through the 21st century and beyond. By the author of Genome. 100,000 first printing.