The Story of Stories traces the arc of storytelling across human history Skip to content Subscribe today Every print subscription comes with full digital access Subscribe Now Menu All Topics Health Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology View All Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes View All Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment View All Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics View All Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology View All Magazine Menu All Stories Multimedia Reviews Puzzles Collections Educator Portal Century of Science Unsung characters Coronavirus Outbreak Newsletters Investors Lab About SN Explores Our Store SIGN IN Donate Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 SIGN IN Search Open search Close search Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 All Topics Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology Tech Computing Artificial Intelligence Chemistry Math Science & Society All Topics Health Humans Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology Recent posts in Humans Artificial Intelligence Real-world medical questions stump AI chatbots By Tina Hesman Saey6 hours ago Health & Medicine A simple shift in schedule could make cancer immunotherapy work better By Elie DolginFebruary 12, 2026 Health & Medicine This baby sling turns sunlight into treatment for newborn jaundice By Elie DolginFebruary 12, 2026 Life Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes Recent posts in Life Animals Some snakes lack the ‘hunger hormone.’ Experts are hungry to know why By Andrea Lius2 hours ago Oceans Evolution didn’t wait long after the dinosaurs died By Elie DolginFebruary 13, 2026 Animals A sea turtle boom may be hiding a population collapse By Melissa HobsonFebruary 13, 2026 Earth Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment Recent posts in Earth Oceans Evolution didn’t wait long after the dinosaurs died By Elie DolginFebruary 13, 2026 Earth Earth’s core may hide dozens of oceans of hydrogen By Nikk OgasaFebruary 10, 2026 Animals Some dung beetles dig deep to keep their eggs cool By Elizabeth PennisiFebruary 4, 2026 Physics Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics Recent posts in Physics Physics Physicists dream up ‘spacetime quasicrystals’ that could underpin the universe By Emily Conover13 minutes ago Physics A precise proton measurement helps put a core theory of physics to the test By Emily ConoverFebruary 11, 2026 Physics The only U.S. particle collider shuts down – so a new one may rise By Emily ConoverFebruary 6, 2026 Space Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology Recent posts in Space Astronomy This inside-out planetary system has astronomers scratching their heads By Adam MannFebruary 12, 2026 Space Artemis II is returning humans to the moon with science riding shotgun By Lisa GrossmanFebruary 4, 2026 Physics A Greek star catalog from the dawn of astronomy, revealed By Adam MannJanuary 30, 2026 Reviews Tech The Story of Stories traces the arc of storytelling across human history Technological upheavals have shaped how we tell stories, but not our love of them From tales shared around a fire to mass printing by machine to the current rapid spread of stories by smartphone, storytelling has evolved alongside technology. By Laura Sanders 4 hours ago Share this:Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Share on X (Opens in new window) X Print (Opens in new window) Print The Story of StoriesKevin AshtonHarper, $32 Back in 1944, two psychologists performed a somewhat mundane experiment. The researchers asked people to simply watch a short film and describe it. Most of the viewers spun elaborate tales involving lovers, violence and abandonment. That’s pretty amazing, considering the film featured only shapes: two triangles and a circle that moved in and out of a rectangle. Our brains, as it turns out, can find a story in anything. Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday. That’s the central truth at the heart of The Story of Stories. In this wide-ranging book, technologist Kevin Ashton dips into the often strange history of storytelling itself, as he describes the technologies that have evolved alongside these tales and makes the case for why stories matter. It’s a compelling effort, particularly today when everyone with a smartphone can be a storyteller. Ashton sets himself an audacious goal of tracing an overarching story of all stories from the earliest tales. Chapter 1 begins with fire, around which our ancestors sat at night. Around these fires, the imperatives of the day’s work fell away. “In the warmth and security of their flames, they communicated about events remembered and imagined, from places and times near and far. Or, they started telling stories,” Ashton writes. The chapters that follow offer scattershot history lessons, curious anecdotes of the ways stories have been passed from person to person, and lively descriptions of revolutionary technologies — from the printing press to electricity to Facebook. Ashton has a knack for pulling out memorable bits from historical records, scientific studies and other sources for readers. For instance, in the mid-1800s in the United States, before paper was regularly made from wood pulp, paper was made from cloth rags. Some of those rags were pulled off Egyptian mummies and stank to high heaven. “Paper mills did not always admit that their ‘Egyptian rags’ had once wrapped mummies, perhaps for fear of upsetting a delicate public,” he writes. The narrative arc of The Story of Stories can at times be hard to follow; readers are occasionally left without a strong anchor line as the book flits from anecdote to anecdote. But stick with it and eventually the soft orange glow of Chapter 1’s ancient fires turn blue — the harsh light of smartphone screens. In the digital age, especially with the ubiquity of social media, “we have gone from a world where a few people could tell stories to a few people, to a world where everyone can tell stories to everyone,” Ashton writes. Storytelling (and listening) has reached a fever pitch. The implications of this expansion are many, and they’re certainly not all positive. Misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines spread far and wide during the pandemic. Ashton details how digital lies contributed to some people refusing to get vaccinated, more cases of severe disease and more preventable deaths. Manipulative stories that convincingly represent fiction as fact — due to
The Story of Stories traces the arc of storytelling across human history
