Matt Ridley is the author of provocative books on evolution, genetics and society. He argues that human beings’ ability to connect, collaborate and co-operate gives our species an often underestimated capacity for change and social progress. Matt worked for The Economist for nine years as science editor, was a Washington correspondent and American editor, before becoming a self-employed writer, speaker and businessman. He currently writes “The Mind and Matter” column in The Wall Street Journal and writes regularly for The Times. In his best-selling book, The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves, Matt takes on contemporary pessimism to argue that, in spite of disasters and reverses, the world has been getting better and better for humanity over the last two centuries, and that our quality of life and material wealth will continue to increase in the 21st century. In our lifetime, per capita income has trebled, lifespan has increased by one third and child mortality has fallen by two thirds. His new book, The Evolution of Everything: How Ideas Emerge, argues that humanity’s most important achievements develop from the bottom up, and counters conventional assumptions that major scientific and social imperatives are dictated by top-down authorities.