The Wisdom of Crowds
by James Surowiecki
Why the Many Are Smarter than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations

In this endlessly fascinating book, New Yorker columnist James Surowiecki explores a deceptively simple idea that has profound implications: Large groups of people are smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant–better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future.

This seemingly counterintuitive notion has endless and major ramifications for how businesses operate, how knowledge is advanced, how economies are (or should be) organized, and how we live our daily lives. With seemingly boundless erudition and in delightfully clear prose, Surowiecki ranges across fields as diverse as popular culture, psychology, ant biology, economic behaviorism, artificial intelligence, military history, and political theory to show just how this principle operates in the real world.

James Surowiecki is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he writes the popular business column, "The Financial Page." His work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Artforum, Wired, and Slate. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. For Q&A with the author and the gist of the book, click here.