The open source phenomenon is often described as a revolution that is changing not only the software industry, but our entire economic system and methods for innovating -- predicated on the view that software is significantly different than previous human endeavours -- and that we live in a time of greater than average innovation.

This presentation looks back at the genesis and evolution of our cultural ideas about innovation and enterprise from another time of greater than average innovation, the Renaissance, through the present; and explores the parallels that may help us understand where we've been -- and where we're going.