César A. Hidalgo, "The Infinite Alphabet: And the Laws of Knowledge" (Allen Lane, 2026)

Mar 16, 2026

César A. Hidalgo, physicist and director of the Center for Collective Learning, explores how knowledge grows and travels. He outlines three laws—time, space, and value—and distinguishes factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge. Stories range from postwar industrial shifts to failed knowledge cities and China’s professor-entrepreneur model. AI’s role and why investing in people beats monuments are also discussed.

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ANECDOTE

Lawyer Turned Specialist Built A $50 Niche

Charlie built a niche legal business by charging $50 to extend court cases, turning a tiny procedural skill into a durable firm.
Hidalgo uses the story to show how ultra-specific procedural knowledge (extending cases in Florida) can be highly valuable.

INSIGHT

Three Principles Organize Knowledge Dynamics

Hidalgo groups knowledge regularities into three principles: time (learning curves), space (diffusion rates), and value (how bundles are valued).
These classes unify historical laws from Thurstone to Moore to explain growth, diffusion, and valuation of knowledge.

ADVICE

Don't Build Knowledge Cities In The Middle Of Nowhere

Avoid building isolated, master-planned 'cities of knowledge' in remote locations; invest where knowledge density and related activities already exist.
Hidalgo cites Yachay and Neom as failures because they ignored density, relatedness, and multi-generational absorption timelines.

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We all understand that knowledge shapes the fate of business and the growth of nations, but few of us are aware of the principles that govern its motion. The Infinite Alphabet: And the Laws of Knowledge (Allen Lane, 2026) unravels the laws describing the growth and diffusion of knowledge by taking you from a failed attempt to build a city of knowledge in Ecuador to the growth of China's innovation economy. Through dozens of stories, you will learn why aircraft manufacturers in Italy began manufacturing scooters after the Second World War and how migrants like Samuel Slater shaped the industrial fabric of the United States. Knowledge is the secret to the wealth of nations. But to understand it, we must accept that it is not a single thing, but an ever-growing tapestry of unique ideas, experiences and received wisdom. An Infinite Alphabet that we are only beginning to fathom. César A. Hidalgo, a world-renowned scholar for his work on economic complexity, will walk you through the "three laws" and the many principles that govern how knowledge grows, moves, and decays. By the end of this journey, you will understand why knowledge grows exponentially in the electronics industry and what mechanisms govern its diffusion across geographic borders, social networks, and professional boundaries. Together these principles will teach you how knowledge shapes the world.

César A. Hidalgo is a physicist, professor, and author known for pioneering work in economic complexity, data visualization, and applied artificial intelligence. For nine years he led MIT's Collective Learning Group before moving to France to found the Center for Collective Learning (CCL), an international research laboratory with offices at the Toulouse School of Economics and Corvinus University of Budapest.

Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network.

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