Today’s complex problems demand a radically new way of thinking—one in which art, technology, and science converge to expand our creativity and augment our insight. Creativity must be combined with the ability to execute; the innovators of the future will have to understand this balance and manage such complexities as climate change and pandemics. The place of this convergence is the Nexus. In this provocative and visually striking book, Julio Mario Ottino and Bruce Mau offer a guide for navigating the intersections of art, technology, and science.

The Nexus brings together word and image to prepare us—individuals and organizations alike—for the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century. Compelling historic examples illuminate the present, from the Renaissance, when the domains were one, to the twentieth century, with intense, collective creative outpourings from places as different as the Bauhaus and Bell Labs. Leaders must be able to grasp simplicity in complexity and complexity in simplicity—and embrace the powerful idea of complementarity, where opposing extremes coexist and our thinking expands. Innovation needs more than managing. Managers use maps; leaders develop compasses.