Steven Johnson is the best-selling author of six books on the intersection of science, technology and personal experience. His writings have influenced everything from the way political campaigns use the Internet, to cutting-edge ideas in urban planning, to the battle against 21st-century terrorism. His lecture titled, “The Networked Idea,” will take place at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 7, in Denison University’s Swasey Chapel (200 Chapel Drive). The lecture is free and open to the public.

Johnson’s work maps the history and geography of innovative ideas, exploring where culture-shifting ideas emerge and how they spread. Drawing on his upcoming book, “Where Good Ideas Come From,” Johnson will discuss the ways communities collaborate on breakthrough innovations in science, technology, and culture — and how the Internet is giving rise to new forms of group intelligence, particularly in universities.

Johnson’s lecture is the opening convocation for Denison’s Spectrum Series, a year-long, campus-wide series of lectures and events that embodies exploration across the liberal arts. This year’s theme, Technology and Community, examines the whirlwind pace of global technological development in the 21st century and asks us to ponder the ways in which technology is redefining the communities to which we belong, as well as our relationships within those communities.

The lecture is co-sponsored by the Office of the President, First-Year Programs, and the Ronneberg Series.