Bucchi's book on innovation to be launched in Helsinki

Helsinki - The language of innovation will be spoken in Helsinki with a book launch. Professor of scientific communication at Trento University, Massimiliano Bucchi, will debut his latest book "Per un pugno di idee. Storie di innovazione che hanno cambiato la nostra vita"[ "For a handful of ideas. Stories of innovative ideas that changed our lives"] at Helsinki's Lyceumklubi. The stories in the book range from the coffee maker 'Moka' to the Kalashnikov, from the computer 'mouse' to 'spaghetti westerns' - detailing the circumstances in which a simple yet overwhelming idea changed the world.

Professor Bucci explains in the book that the term 'innovation' has often been overused, and conceals the concrete, yet complicated and fascinating courses behind the expression. From the fork to the Kalashnikov, the book brings together the stories of the inspirations that have changed our lives. It proves that they are characterised by non-linear, collective processes that do not stem from the mind of a lonely genius, but from the most unexpected contribution of ideas.

There are stories of conceptual innovations, such as the Qwerty keyboards all of us use every day and of innovations in sports, including the Italian 'contropiede' [counterattack] to the Fosbury jump. Some belong to the cultural universe such as the game of Monopoly or 'spaghetti-westerns'. Others are stories of surprisingly innovative procedures, like the one that led a physicist to invent the first videogame in history. Or a film director introducing 'the countdown' which today evokes space exploration in everyone's minds. It is why the book is an instructive tale of eccentricities making a difference and leading to big changes in culture, technology, sports, film and food. The event has been organised by Helsinki's Comitato Dante Alighieri.