效率的起源 The Origins of Efficiency

基本信息

by Brian Potter (Author)

Format:Hardback 384 pages, images, graphics, charts, and tables

Publisher:Stripe Matter Inc

Imprint:Stripe Press

ISBN:9781953953520

Published:14 Oct 2025

Dimensions:229 x 152 (mm)

页面参数仅供参考，具体以实物为准

书籍简介

本书探讨了从青霉素到钢铁再到半导体等生产过程如何随着时间的推移而变得更加高效，并有力地论证了效率是被低估的进步驱动力。效率是驱动人类文明的引擎。正因如此，饥荒发生率才急剧下降，识字率才得以提高，与前工业化时代相比，人类的寿命更长、更健康。

但生产效率的提升从何而来？在《效率的起源》一书中，布莱恩·波特认为，提高生产效率——即找到在更短时间内、用更少的劳动力、使用更少的资源来生产商品和服务的方法——是人类历史上一些大、影响深远的变革背后的驱动力。波特深度和细节，探讨了生产过程的基本特征，以及如何降低其时间和资源的密集程度，从而降低成本。本书穿插着生产效率实践的案例，包括高产量的制造方法如何使青霉素成为“神药”，在二战期间将战场感染死亡率降低了80%；白炽灯泡生产工艺改进的百年历史；以及福特、丰田和特斯拉等汽车制造商如何开发创新的生产方法，不仅改变了汽车行业，也改变了整个制造业。

最后，他考察了生产成本尚未下降的行业，并探讨了如何利用生产效率机制来改变这种状况。《效率的起源》是任何想要了解我们如何进入这个相对富足时代的人的指南——以及如何将效率改进进一步推进到住房、医疗和教育等领域——这些领域还有很多工作要做。 “布莱恩·波特是美国作家，他撰写了关于重要事物如何构建的书籍，他的新书是他作品的佳范例。”——德里克·汤普森，《Hit Makers》作者，《Abundance》合著者“读完这本书后，你会感觉自己已经在成为制造业专家的道路上迈出了坚实的一步。”——诺亚·史密斯，《Noahpinion》作者

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. 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. With unprecedented depth and detail, Potter examines the fundamental characteristics of a production process and how it can be made less time- and resource-intensive, and therefore less expensive. The book is punctuated with examples of production efficiency in practice, including how high-yield manufacturing methods made penicillin the “miracle drug” that reduced battlefield infection deaths by 80 percent during World War II; the 100-year history of process improvements in incandescent light bulb production; and how automakers like Ford, Toyota, and Tesla developed innovative production methods that transformed not just the automotive industry but manufacturing as a whole.

He concludes by looking at sectors where production costs haven’t fallen, and explores how we might harness the mechanisms of production efficiency to change that. The Origins of Efficiency is a comprehensive companion for anyone seeking to understand how we arrived at this age of relative abundance—and how we can push efficiency improvements further into domains like housing, medicine, and education, where much work is left to be done. “Brian Potter is the single best writer in America on how important things get built, and his new book is the single best example of his work.”—Derek Thompson, author of Hit Makers and coauthor of Abundance“By the time you finish this book, you’ll feel like you’re well on your way to becoming an expert in manufacturing.”—Noah Smith, author of Noahpinion

作者简介

布莱恩·波特是《建筑物理》简报的作者，也是进步研究所的高级基础设施研究员。他撰写有关建筑施工技术和经济学的文章，重点关注如何提高生产率和降低成本。他曾在软银投资的建筑初创公司 Katerra 管理一个工程团队，并拥有 15 年的结构工程师经验。他拥有佐治亚理工学院土木工程学士学位和中佛罗里达大学系统工程硕士学位。

Brian Potter is the author of the Construction Physics newsletter and a senior infrastructure fellow at the Institute for Progress. He writes about the technology and economics of building construction, with a focus on improving productivity and reducing costs. He previously managed an engineering team at Katerra, a SoftBank-backed construction startup, and has 15 years of experience as a structural engineer. He holds a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Georgia Tech and a master’s in systems engineering from the University of Central Florida.