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The failure of Britain’s first space launch is coming in for a lot of Schadenfreude. (Given how much we Brits revel in other’s misfortune, it is surprising we have to borrow a German word for it.) While an inquest into what went wrong is clearly warranted, it would be a mistake if we gave up […]

The green zealots are far more interested in lecturing others than improving lives and the planet through technology My article for The Telegraph: Fusion energy is coming. Last week’s announcement of a significant energy yield from the Joint European Torus in Oxfordshire is just a milestone on the path but all the signs are that […]

The ‘great stagnation’ is a myth; wonders are being accomplished. But silly rules still block progress. My article for the Telegraph: Back in the early 1950s scientists were baffled by one aspect of life itself. Our cells were full of proteins whose properties depended on their precise shapes, and the key feature of life was […]

I went on The Knowledge Project podcast with Shane Parrish to discuss “writing books about science, the age-old battle between viruses and humans, rational optimism, the difference between innovation and invention, the role of trial and error and the effects of social media on seeing others’ points of view.” It was a wonderful conversation, and […]

I spent an hour talking to philosophy expert, business expert and Ayn Rand Institute Chairman Yaron Brook about my upcoming book, and the painful yet important lessons that the epidemic is teaching us about innovation. Please check it out, and consider sharing and subscribing: To stay updated, follow me on Twitter @mattwridley and Facebook, or subscribe to my new […]

Culture and practice can change without putting Big Brother in charge My article for The Telegraph: In the 19th century Ignaz Semmelweis was vilified and ostracised when he tried to make doctors wash their hands after doing autopsies on women who had died from childbirth fever before going straight upstairs to deliver more babies. We […]

Coming 14th May and 19th May and Available to Pre-Order My next book How Innovation Works will be published on 14th May in the United Kingdom and 19th May in the United States and Canada. It’s available for pre-order now. While it has been searchable on booksellers’ websites for a few months, and teased here […]

My blog post for Free Market Conservatives: When you think about it, what has happened to human society in the last 300 years is pretty weird. After trundling along with horses and sailboats, slaves and swords, for millennia, we suddenly got steam engines and search engines, and planes and cars and electricity and computers and […]

I visited reddit’s r/IAmA community Wednesday to answer your questions. Here are some highlights. Can you briefly summarise your position on climate change? Yes, though it’s not an issue I am focusing on much at the moment. My view is summarised in a lecture I gave in 2016 called Global Warming versus Global Greening. I’ve covered […]

Britain needs to rediscover trial and error, serendipity, speed, and innovation My article from The Spectator: What was Brexit for? After finally taking Britain out of the European Union, the Prime Minister can now start to give us his answer — and the opportunity in front of him is pretty clear. He could speed up, […]