{"product_id":"where-futures-converge-isbn-9780262046510","title":"Where Futures Converge","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe evolution of the most innovative square mile on the planet: the endless cycles of change and reinvention that created today’s Kendall Square.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been called “the most innovative square mile on the planet.” It’s a life science hub, hosting Biogen, Moderna, Pfizer, Takeda, and others. It’s a major tech center, with Google, Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple all occupying big chunks of pricey office space. Kendall Square also boasts a dense concentration of startups, with leading venture capital firms conveniently located nearby. And of course, MIT is just down the block. In \u003ci\u003eWhere Futures Converge\u003c\/i\u003e, Robert Buderi offers the first detailed account of the unique ecosystem that is Kendall Square, chronicling the endless cycles of change and reinvention that have driven its evolution.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBuderi, who himself has worked in Kendall Square for the past twenty years, tells fascinating stories of great innovators and their innovations that stretch back two centuries. Before biotech and artificial intelligence, there was railroad car innovation, the first long-distance telephone call, the Polaroid camera, MIT’s once secret, now famous Radiation Laboratory, and much more. Buderi takes readers on a walking tour of the square and talks to dozens of innovators, entrepreneurs, urban planners, historians, and others. He considers Kendall Square’s limitations—it’s “gentrification gone rogue,” by one description, with little affordable housing, no pharmacy, and a scarce middle class—and its strengths: the “human collisions” that spur innovation.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eWhat’s next for Kendall Square? Buderi speculates about the next big innovative enterprises and outlines lessons for aspiring innovation districts. More important, he asks how Kendall Square can be both an innovation hub and diversity, equity, and inclusion hub. There’s a lot of work still to do. \u003cbr\u003e Introduction 1.0, or Preface: The Kendall Theory of Biogeography ix\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction 2.0: The Best Place to Have These Problems xiii\u003cbr\u003e1 The Most Innovative Square Mile Kilometer On Earth 1\u003cbr\u003e2 Model of Innovation 9\u003cbr\u003e3 The First Economic Vision for Kendall Square is a Bust 21\u003cbr\u003e4 Charles Davenport and the Square's Transformation 25\u003cbr\u003e5 Kendall Becomes Kendall 33\u003cbr\u003e6 Davenport's Failed Dream Opens the Door for \"New Technology\" 37\u003cbr\u003e7 \"A Canopy of Industrial Haze\" 47\u003cbr\u003e8 Rad Lab: Kendall Square's Tipping Point 55\u003cbr\u003eSpotlight: The F\u0026amp;T--Place-Making's First Place 65\u003cbr\u003e9 Urban Marshland to Urban Renewal 69\u003cbr\u003e10 Kendall, We Have a Problem 77\u003cbr\u003e11 Tech Surge: Lotus to AI Alley 87\u003cbr\u003e12 The Ordinance and Biogen 99\u003cbr\u003e13 Beginnings of Gene Town 111\u003cbr\u003e14 Bubble Days: Media Lab to Akamai 119\u003cbr\u003eSpotlight: Lita Nelsen on Technology Licensing and How \"Clusters Feed Themselves\" 133\u003cbr\u003e15 Cambridge Innovation Center: Kendall Square's Startup Heart 137\u003cbr\u003eSpotlight: Innovation Space Zoning--How Kendall Square Hopes to Keep Its Startup Community Vibrant 147\u003cbr\u003e16 \"Nibber\": Big Pharma Ups the Ante 151\u003cbr\u003eSpotlight: Bob Langer--Personification of Kendall Square's Secret Sauce 159\u003cbr\u003e17 Homegrown Biotechs Make Their Mark 163\u003cbr\u003e18 Road to the Broad 179\u003cbr\u003e19 The Corporatization of Kendall Square 193\u003cbr\u003e20 Venture Migration and the Tech Startup Squeeze 205\u003cbr\u003eSpotlight\" Flagship Pioneering--Kendall Square Company Creator 217\u003cbr\u003e21 Forty Missing Companies 223\u003cbr\u003e22 700 Main: The Story of Kendall Square--In One Building 237\u003cbr\u003e23 Nexus of Collaboration 249\u003cbr\u003eSpotlight: Mapping the Moderna Network 257\u003cbr\u003e24 Challenges and Regional Advantage 261\u003cbr\u003e25 Voices of the Square 273\u003cbr\u003e26 Eleven Decisions that Shaped Kendall Square 283\u003cbr\u003e27 Lessons and Observations 287\u003cbr\u003e28 Converge and Consilience 295\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments 303\u003cbr\u003eList of Interviews 305\u003cbr\u003eNotes 309\u003cbr\u003eBibliography 337\u003cbr\u003eIndex 359“\u003ci\u003eWhere Futures Converge: Kendall Square and the Making of a Global Innovation Hub\u003c\/i\u003e by Robert Buderi (MIT Press) is a biogeography of the area, a compelling history of the place, and a lively portrait of what it is today. He treats the area as an ecosystem, one that’s in constant flux...He talks with professors, entrepreneurs, members of the Kendall Square Association, historians, scientists, in trying to understand what makes the place what it is, as well as the challenges it faces: it has some of the highest rent in the country, people can’t afford to live there, it’s dead in the evenings and on weekends, lowering the opportunity for serendipitous encounters that lead to bigger brainstorms and even more fresh ideas. And he looks towards what’s possible in Kendall Square’s future, making stronger links between the science and the humanities, and continuing to change the ways the world approaches climate change, medicine, energy, transportation, and tech. It’s not only a look the biotech jungle, but a history of some of the most important developments in the last century.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eWhere Futures Converge\u003c\/i\u003e dives into the dynamics that make Kendall Square such a powerful engine of scientific breakthroughs and startup formation.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—The Boston Globe \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been dubbed 'the most innovative square mile on earth.'  Neighbouring the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it is a centre for life-sciences companies, tech firms and start-ups, from Moderna to IBM. One building with a history including the first long-distance telephone call now houses almost 70 biomedical start-ups. Entrepreneur and Kendall Square inhabitant Robert Buderi considers the area’s past, present and future by interviewing local notables.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNature\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“The book works as a narrative history—well researched and filled to the brim with local voices and anecdotes…Within the pages of his new book, Buderi takes readers on a journey through the timeline, making important milestones. A page-turner.”  \u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBoston Common Magazine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"In \u003ci\u003eWhere Futures Converge, Kendall Square and the Making of a Global Innovation Hub\u003c\/i\u003e, Robert Buderi, a well-known business and technology writer, tells the story of the movers and shakers, the policymakers and planners, and the places and events that shaped the region’s knowledge economy. He offers a fascinating account of the history of innovation in Kendall Square, which is at the confluence of world-class research institutes, academia and hospitals, all within walking distance of each other...The future of Kendall Square is again rife with possibilities. Now is a good time to pick up this informative and lovingly written book.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrontline, India's National Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e“A must-read for everyone who cares about understanding, cultivating, and building innovative ecosystems.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Richard Florida, University of Toronto; author of \u003ci\u003eThe Rise of the Creative Class\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Robert Buderi has written a riveting account of the deliberate decisions and chance encounters that made Kendall Square the innovation hub it is today.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—John Maraganore, Founding CEO of Alnylam\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“A compelling history that describes the people who navigated between impossibility and inevitability to foster the evolution of today’s ‘most innovative square mile on the planet.’”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Susan Hockfield, President Emerita, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; author of \u003ci\u003eThe Age of Living Machines\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Buderi’s engaging history brings Kendall Square to life as an ecosystem responding to scientific breakthroughs and social changes through collaboration and adaptation.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Phillip A. Sharp, Institute Professor, MIT; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1993\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Robert Buderi describes the evolution of the Kendall Square and MIT startup community with amazing depth and clarity.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Brad Feld, Foundry partner; Techstars cofounder; MIT ’87, ’88; coauthor of \u003ci\u003eThe Startup Community Way\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“A terrific book about Kendall Square and the remarkable companies and people who have made it what it is today.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Robert Langer, Institute Professor, MIT; National Medal of Science (2006) and National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2011)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“A story for our times as we seek to build more regions that can propel and energize growth and impact.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Fiona Murray, William Porter (1967) Professor of Entrepreneurship, MIT; Founding Faculty, MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“A fascinating and insightful account of the tech ecosystem that is Kendall Square for anyone who cares about fostering innovation in our communities.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Mitchell Kapor, founder, Lotus Development Corporation\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“A well-researched, fun-to-read description of the past, present, and future of one of the world’s most concentrated and fertile wellspring of innovation.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Danny Hillis, Co-founder, Applied Invention; Visiting Professor, MIT; author of \u003ci\u003eThe Connection Machine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Buderi provides invaluable insights regarding the intentionality and serendipity of how the most innovative square kilometer in the world came to be.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Bill Aulet, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Managing Director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship; author of \u003ci\u003eDisciplined Entrepreneurship\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eRobert Buderi is an author, journalist, and entrepreneur. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eEngines of Tomorrow\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Invention That Changed the World\u003c\/i\u003e, and other books, former Editor-in-Chief of \u003ci\u003eTechnology Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and founder of the media company Xconomy.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304149340389,"sku":"NP9780262046510","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262046510.jpg?v=1767744023","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/where-futures-converge-isbn-9780262046510","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}