Mothers of Invention

“Entertaining and wholly original, this will inspire readers to embrace and celebrate human ingenuity.”

–Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

“Punctuated with Muses’ journal entries, conversations, and reflections, McTier’s sweeping history makes an impassioned case for nurturing originality. A clever, quirky history of human endeavors.”

–Kirkus
“Mothers of Invention is a book unlike any I’ve read before. It’s part fiction - part myth - part history of science, all beautifully tied together by McTier’s characters and humour. But this important book isn’t just a good story; it also challenges you to interrogate your beliefs about art, science, and creativity itself.”–Katie Spalding, author of Edison’s Ghosts
“A charmingly original reimagining of human curiosity, progress, and transformation. McTier’s voice is fresh and lively, and Mothers of Invention is a delight from start to finish.”–Dr. Claire Aubin, historian and host of This Guy Sucked
“Mothers of Invention is the rare book that reminds us that the story of human creativity is far more mythic and collaborative than the tidy narratives we so often tell. Moiya McTier takes us on a journey with the playful wisdom of a storyteller and the rigor of a scholar, placing the Muses at the center of the narrative while revealing something deeply true about how creativity actually works. In this moment, when our culture is struggling to understand its relationship to the creative and innovation, this book arrives as both guide and mirror. McTier reminds us that creativity has never belonged to a single brilliant mind. It has always been part of a larger story we’re telling together. If stories help us remember who we are, Mothers of Invention helps us remember where our creativity comes from and why it still matters.”–John Bucher, Mythologist & Executive Director of Joseph Campbell Foundation

Dr. Moiya McTier is an astrophysicist, folklorist, and science communicator based in New York City. After graduating from Harvard as the first person in the school’s history to study both astronomy and mythology, Moiya earned her PhD in astrophysics at Columbia University where she was selected as a National Science Foundation research fellow.

Moiya has consulted with Disney and PBS on their fictional worlds, helped design exhibits for the New York Hall of Science, given hundreds of talks about science around the globe, and publicly advocated for artist rights in the face of generative AI with the Human Artistry Campaign. To help her fellow humans feel closer to the universe, Moiya hosts and produces the podcast Pale Blue Pod.

When she’s not researching space or imagining new worlds, Moiya can likely be found watching trashy reality tv with her cats, Cosmo and Spats.