Efficiency is the engine that powers human civilization. It’s the reason rates of famine have fallen precipitously; literacy has risen; and humans are living longer, healthier lives compared to preindustrial times. But where do improvements in production efficiency come from? In The Origins of Efficiency, Brian Potter argues that improving production efficiency — finding ways to produce goods and services in less time, with less labor, using fewer resources — is the force behind some of the biggest and most consequential changes in human history.
The Origins of Efficiency: An examination of how production processes—from penicillin to steel to semiconductors—get more efficient over time, and a powerful argument for efficiency as an underrated driver of progress.
Brian Potter
$38.20
Stripe Press
Available 10/14/25
384 Pages
