Over the past two centuries, humanity has become massively more prosperous, better educated, healthier, and more peaceful.
The underlying cause of this progress is innovation. Human innovation―whether it be new ideas, inventions, or systems―is the primary way people create wealth and escape poverty.
Our upcoming book, Heroes of Progress: 65 People Who Changed the World, explores the lives of the most important innovators who have ever lived, from agronomists who saved billions from starvation and intellectuals who changed public policy for the better, to businesspeople whose innovations helped millions rise from poverty.
If it weren’t for the heroes profiled in this book, we’d all be far poorer, sicker, hungrier, and less free―if we were fortunate enough to be alive at all.
Considering their impact on humanity, perhaps it’s time to learn their story?
Heroes of Progress Book Forum
On March 21st, the author of Heroes of Progress, Alexander Hammond, will present the book live at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. He will be joined by Marian Tupy, the editor of Human Progress, and Clay Routledge, the Archbridge Institute’s Vice President of Research, who will speak on the individual’s role in advancing human progress and the need for a cultural progress movement.
New Mosquito Nets Prevented 13 Million Malaria Cases in Pilot Programs
“Results shared this week by the New Nets Project, an initiative funded by Unitaid and the Global Fund, highlighted a pair of second-generation bed nets tested in endemic areas between 2019 and 2022. About 56 million nets were distributed in Burkina Faso, Benin, and Côte d’Ivoire, among other countries, and several pilot studies found that the new nets were between 20% and 50% more effective than traditional ones in reducing mosquito exposure and reduced the risk of infection by up to 55%. Overall, the New Net Project estimated the nets helped prevent up to 13 million additional cases of malaria, saving close to 25,000 lives.”
“Clinics around the country are starting to offer patients a new service: having their mammograms read not just by a radiologist, but also by an artificial intelligence model. The hospitals and companies that provide these tools tout their ability to speed the work of radiologists and detect cancer earlier than standard mammograms alone.”
“For as long as I’ve been practicing medicine, Alzheimer’s disease has been, essentially, a death sentence. You give the diagnosis, and you prepare the patient and the family for the worst.
Until now…
Thanks to new developments in the early detection and management of Alzheimer’s, as well as new medications, many patients can slow the course of the disease and boost their well-being. The result is that more Alzheimer’s patients are able to live relatively normal lives for much longer than previously—several years, at least, and often longer.”
“Stem cells could badly use a win. There are plenty of shady health clinics that say stem cells will cure anything, and many people who believe it. In reality, though, turning these cells into cures has been a slow-moving research project that, so far, hasn’t resulted in any approved medicines.
But that could change, given the remarkable early results of Neurona’s tests on the first five volunteers. Of those, four, including Graves, are reporting that their seizures have decreased by 80% and more. There are also improvements in cognitive tests.”