“He speaks every bit as beautifully as he writes... Statistically speaking, David Bodanis should not exist.”
My newest book
Published in November 2020 in the UK (2021 in the US and elsewhere), this goes into a question that has long fascinated me: Can you succeed without being a terrible person?
The answer is 'Yes, but you need skill', and the book shows how. I demonstrate those insights through a series of biographies…
“David Bodanis is an enthralling storyteller. Prepare to be taken on a surprising, wide-ranging and ultimately inspiring journey to explore what makes us human.”
About David
To my great surprise I’ve now spent decades as a writer and speaker. It was never planned that way, but I’ve always been fascinated by what makes people tick and how we can do better, especially in envisaging entirely new vistas. One thing just led to another:
Teaching about that at Oxford turned into work with scenarios, then wider corporate consulting and a range of talks, with spinoffs such as this Financial Times series on management and careers. Books about science and the people behind it led on to ‘The Art of Fairness’, looking at how we navigate almost any profession. Here’s a standard, c.v. style account of how all that fits together; below that you’ll find more reflective notes on how it came about in the first place.
Books.
Why do I write? It's that words fade, and lives fade, but what's passed on need not.
Talks.
I've spent a lot of time pulling practical ideas together for corporate talks. (Growing up with five older sisters, uninterrupted talks were a savored luxury.)
Ideas.
Einstein was once asked where he wrote down his ideas. ‘Ach’ he said, ‘it’s so rare I get a really good idea…’
Life Guides.
A lot of my work is to help guide us in life, be that in individual careers, companies looking ahead with scenarios, or lessons from history.
More Books by David Bodanis
Readings and Occasional Updates
My main activity now is watching 'The Art of Fairness' be published, while racing ahead with the treatment for a new project (which shall be revealed in a few months!). I enjoy this, but it can get tiring trying to weave each day's writing neatly together.
In the past, I'd take a break from that sort of work through noodling away at music, just letting some blessed disorganization take over. Kind readers deserve to be spared that, so what I'll do as a break here is just drop in some preliminary, very much Unwoven items: scattered notes from my current reading, or the occasional interesting email.
For speaking engagements please
contact my estimable agent.
“[His] ability to fuse past, present and future around a subject is what makes him such a special speaker.”
Explorations Newsletter
This is a bit of an experiment. I'll aim for intermittent updates - probably every month or two - on fresh work that might be of interest.