The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices: How the Digital Magicians of the MIT Media Lab Are Creating the Innovative Technologies That Will Transform Our Lives [Hardcover]

Frank Moss (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 7, 2011

If you've ever read a book on an e-reader, unleashed your inner rock star playing Guitar Hero, built a robot with LEGO Mindstorms, or ridden in a vehicle with child-safe air bags, then you've experienced first hand just a few of the astounding innovations that have come out of the Media Lab over the past 25 years. But that’s old hat for today’s researchers, who are creating technologies that will have a much deeper impact on the quality of people’s lives over the next quarter century. 
 
In this exhilarating tour of the Media Lab's inner sanctums, we'll meet the professors and their students - the Sorcerers and their Apprentices - and witness first hand the creative magic behind inventions such as:
 
* Nexi, a mobile humanoid robot with such sophisticated social skills she can serve as a helpful and understanding companion for the sick and elderly.
* CityCar, a foldable, stackable, electric vehicle of the future that will redefine personal transportation in cities and revolutionize urban life.
* Sixth Sense, a compact wearable device that transforms any surface – wall, tabletop or even your hand - into a touch screen computer.
* PowerFoot, a lifelike robotic prosthesis that enables amputees to walk as naturally as if it were a real biological limb.
 
Through inspiring stories of people who are using Media Lab innovations to confront personal challenges - like a man with cerebral palsy who is unable to hum a tune or pick up an instrument yet is using an ingenious music composition system to unleash his “inner Mozart”, and a woman with a rare life-threatening condition who co-invented a revolutionary web service that enables patients to participate in the search for their own cures - we’ll see how the Media Lab is empowering us all with the tools to take control of our health, wealth, and happiness. 
 
Along the way, Moss reveals the highly unorthodox approach to creativity and invention that makes all this possible, explaining how the Media Lab cultivates an open and boundary-less environment where researchers from a broad array of disciplines – from musicians to neuroscientists to visual artists to computer engineers - have the freedom to follow their passions and take bold risks unthinkable elsewhere.
 
The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices can serve as a blueprint for how to fix our broken innovation ecosystem and bring about the kind of radical change required to meet the challenges of the 21st century.  It is a must-read for anyone striving to be more innovative as an individual, as a businessperson, or as a member of society. 

Also includes 16 pages of color photos highlighting some of the lab's most visually stunning inventions - and the people who make them possible.
 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Out of the creative chaos at the MIT Media Lab have come fantastical inventions that have changed how we work, play, and live. Frank Moss’ stories of the ‘digital magicians’ behind these experiments and discoveries are inspiring and engaging."
—Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google 

"MIT Media Lab has been inventing the future for more than 25 years.  Frank Moss explains how - and the lessons can help you be more creative -  and your organization be more innovative." 
 - Steve Case, Co-founder of AOL, Chairman of the Startup America Partnership, and co-chair of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship
 
"This book will be a delight for anyone who cares about innovation. For more than twenty-five years, the MIT Media Lab has been inventing the future and humanizing technology. Weaving fascinating tales with insightful concepts, Frank Moss tells us how. He shows the way to harness passion and break down the walls between disciplines in order to unleash creativity in fields ranging from robotics to music to the making of mechanical limbs."
—Walter Isaacson, CEO and president, The Aspen Institute, former chairman and CEO of CNN, and bestselling author of Einstein: His Life and Universe
 
"Anyone who wants to succeed - be it in technology art, or business - needs to follow the unique multi-disciplinary approach described in this book. Our future depends on innovation. This book provides the inspiration and motivation we need to change the world, one page at a time."
—Chad Hurley, Co-Founder & former CEO, YouTube.
  
"As a CIO, I understand the challenges of managing brilliant and creative people.   Frank Moss' insightful case studies from the Media Lab provide a roadmap for leaders who want to accelerate innovation.   There is no better example of a culture that inspires and enables invention."
—Dr. John Halamka, Chief Information Officer, Harvard Medical School and The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
 
“The stories begin about the gadgets for which the MIT Media Lab is well known, but then they turn human, as Frank Moss introduces us to the professors and students flourishing in the Lab's unique innovation ecology. SORCERERS ends too soon, leaving you curious, excited, and determined to know more about the MIT Media Lab's unique approach to inventing and innovation.  This book is timely for America, right now looking to innovate on innovation, to winning the future.”
—Bob Metcalfe, Ethernet Inventor, formulator of Metcalfe's Law, and  Professor of Innovation at UTexas Austin.


“Our world is changing at an exponential rate.  Billion dollar industries are folding overnight and Billion dollar start-ups are seemingly coming out of no-where.  Small teams empowered by technology can now do what was once only possible by large corporations and governments.  Frank Moss’ book shares countless examples of inspired creativity and fearless innovation.  This is a must-read book for anyone who wants to change their company, industry or the world.”
-Peter H. Diamandis, MD, MS, Chairman/CEO, X PRIZE Foundation, Chairman/Vice-Chancellor, Singularity University

"On every page, this essential book underlines the importance of the human - both in the individuals who make the Lab tick, and the people who are directly affected by the creative brilliance of the Lab's minds and the practical outcome of their work.  Moss expertly threads the multiple strands of the Media Lab story - it's innovative past, present and most importantly it's future - and demonstrates how it has continued to be one of the most unorthodox and influential brain trusts in the world."
- Alex McDowell, Royal Designer for Industry, production designer of Minority Report and Fight Club

"‘The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices’ is in essence a tour through the Media Lab... and the reader can almost hear Mr. Moss leading the visitor through the glass-walled building with an infectious enthusiasm for the stories of its occupants and contents, much of which exists in the form of the models and prototypes for which the lab is famous"
-The Wall Street Journal

About the Author

FRANK MOSS served as director of the MIT Media Lab from 2006-2011, and is currently Professor of the Practice and head of the New Media Medicine group there. After earning a BSE from Princeton and PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT, he held positions at IBM, Apollo Computer, Lotus Development and was CEO and chairman of Tivoli Systems, which he took public in 1995 and merged with IBM a year later. He is a co-founder of many companies, including Stellar Computer, Bowstreet, Infinity Pharmaceuticals and his latest startup venture, Bluefin Labs.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business; First Edition edition (June 7, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307589102
• ISBN-13: 978-0307589101
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #198,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #69 in Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Patents & Inventions

More About the Author

Frank Moss had a childhood dream to be a part of America's space program. But by the time he graduated from MIT with a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1976, funding for the space program had been dramatically slashed. So he went to work in the computer industry instead, as a researcher at IBM. But he soon left to try his hand in the world of high tech startups. After three companies he found success as CEO of Tivoli Systems, which he took public in 1995 and merged with IBM a year later. After making sure the merger was a success, he went back to starting high tech companies, but this time he realized that he was looking for something much different: he wanted to make a bigger contribution to humanity. This led him to co-found the cancer drug discovery company Infinity Pharmaceuticals in 2001 and then to the directorship of the MIT Media Lab from 2006 to 2011. While there he wrote his first book, "The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices", about the lab's highly unorthodox approach to innovation. He is now back, once again, to the world of entrepreneurship as co-founder of Bluefin Labs, Inc.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars I have to wonder why this book was written; who for? September 28, 2011

By E. Swope VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I have spent upwards of a month slogging through this book, a book which by all rights ought to be an immensely enjoyable read for me as it hits on a number of passionate interests of mine, yet...it was not. In his preface Moss comments that this is the third book on the media lab, the first 2 having been written by Stwert Brand and Nicholas Negroponte. I strongly suspect I would have enjoyed those more, and may eventually pick one or both of them up). I am less familiar with Moss than I am with either of the other men, having read many of Brand's works and followed Negroponte's activities for a while impressed by his vision and compassion. Moss I know mostly from the introduction to this book. That, however, was not what put me off. I felt like a good deal of time was spent pumping himself, the school, the lab, and finally the book, It is clear that Moss is excited to be at the media lab (despite early quandries), its approach and the success of its students and graduates. To some extent that comes with the territory. They are among the brightest and hardest working, most highly selected students in the country. They would likely be successful wherever they went. Put those students in an environment with others of similar talent and passion, and things will happen. While I was an undergraduate at Brown, the NY Times wrote an article disparaging the education received at Ivy league schools (focusing on Harvard in particular). It made sufficient impression that my dad drove up to spend a day attending classes with me (else I likely would not have noticed the article). I recall a response someone sent in saying that he learned more in the hallway than he had anywhere else in his life. Exactly.

In the first 4 chapters, Moss describes (more via adjective than verb or noun, the approach of the lab; Passion, disappearing discipline, hard fun, serendipity by design. Again, I get the enthusiasm, but not the mechanics of their approach. Some of it is described anecdotaly in subsequent chapters, but it is not really fleshed out. What I do get is that MIT is employing an approach which many corporations use, creativity consultants teach, and which overlaps strategies used by other schools since before the media lab existed. (I know this because I graduated from Brown a few years before the media lab came into being, and a foundation of Brown's approach is cultivating an interdisciplainary environment where students can cross boundaries and explore without being penalized for same. (I wonder if MIT allows students to opt out of grades for any/ all of their classes? As far as I know, no one has written a book on Brown's "new curriculum" but several other universities have adopted similar programs. After reading this book I am not sure I know what sets the media lab apart other than corporate involvement and a focus on engineering. It may be that I feel that I did not learn much as I already know a fair amount about the school having friends and family who have attended, but, more than anything it was the tone which put me off. I kept thinking of Stephen Hawking's book On The Shoulders Of Giants and reminiscing on some far ranging conversations on a creativity listserv on the genesis of ideas (are they solitary acts of genius or evolutionary). While MIT's media lab may be unique in some regards, it has been built on the ideas and successes of many other institutions..

A concrete example of what bothered me about this book is provided in his description of having discovered, with surprising incredulity, that a team from MIT had won DARPA's red balloon contest". In brief, DARPA had announced a prize of $40,000 for the person or team who was first to report the locations of 10 weather balloons which had been hidden across the continental US. The winning team had used a "temporary recursive incentive scheme" in which they offered to share the reward with who ever found a balloon, as well as the person who referred that person, and the one who had invited that person, providing incentives to gather as many helpers as possible. He notes that on the first day over 5,000 people had registered on the web site which the team set up and which had accumulated 100,000 page views. Describing that this was about the power of networking and new communications media, he goes on to say "If this is what can be accomplished by a few geeks and a computer in an office in Cambridge, Massachusetts..." A few geeks in an office? what about the other 5,000 + people? (and the scientists who discovered and defined recursive incentive schemes?)

All in all I am not sure who this book is written for. is it to encourage applications from students who have heard that MIT is a "nose to the grindstone" kind of school where they will be steeped in numbers...or to introduce the partnerships to potential corporate sponsors? Maybe it's for those interested in technology, or creativity? Though I know that people who study and teach creativity are aware of many similar environments, and suspect that most technophiles will have read about quit a few of these inventions/ ideas (obviously he can not discuss things which are under development out of fairness to the students, professors...). Whether or not you will enjoy reading this will have something to do with your background and how much reading you have done in the area and the type of writing style you like. Myself, I felt like much of the book was more about selling the school than describing it in any useful way. It may well have been a matter of style, but I did not personally find this an especially enlightening or enjoyable read.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Future is Being Created at MIT Media Lab June 12, 2011

By Bookworm9765

Format:Hardcover

In The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices, David Moss offers a first hand tour of the legendary MIT Media Lab, a place where remarkable innovations occur almost continuously. The book is a bit of a jumble rather than a single coherent narrative, but that is appropriate since the Media Lab is all about bringing brilliant people from different disciplines together and letting ideas collide randomly in a "boundary-less" environment.

Moss, who served as the Media Lab's director starting in 2006, focuses on the researchers in the Lab and how they collaborate on a variety of projects, ranging from new ways to interact with computers, technologies to assist the disabled and the elderly, new forms of transportation and ,especially, robotics.

On thing that really comes through is the Media Labs leading-edge research into artificial intelligence and robotics. The social robots under development are able to interact and learn from people, and can even respond to specific human attitudes and emotions based on facial expressions and other hints. Moss is extremely bullish about the future of robotics, writing that he expects "truly capable robots that can be sold at prices on the order of notebook computers," and that by the end of this decade there may be "more than a billion robots" deployed world-wide.

While Moss talks about robots and AI being primarily deployed in the the home or in health care settings, there is little doubt that these technologies are going to have a huge impact in workplaces, on the job market and on the overall economy and society. Very few people seem to be tuned into the coming wave of innovation. The technologies under development at the Media Lab have the potential to be truly transformative, and the impact will be felt by all of us.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Remarkable Book About A Remarkable Source of Innovation, Design & Prototypes June 1, 2011

By Ira Laefsky VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Dr. Frank Moss, the Director of MIT's Media Lab between 2006 and 2011 presents a remarkable, yet human view of one of the nation's treasure laboratories.
The Media Lab is a Special Projects Laboratory and Educational Division within the MIT School of Architecture and Planning that focuses on Technology, Design and New Media. It's amazing projects and demonstrations have resulted in such products as E-Ink (the paper-like display which make E-Readers like the Kindle
readable), the One Laptop per Child XO laptop, and the Guitar Hero gaming platform.

Frank Moss describes and humanizes the research and demonstration process of this remarkable academic laboratory where the motto is "Demo or Die" rather
than "Publish or Perish". He describes the technologies, designs and human problems which continue to lead their innovation. Most importantly he profiles in human depth the talented Professors, Graduate Students, Researchers and Corporate Partners who make this innovation possible. A remarkable book about a remarkable place.

--Ira Laefsky