La Lettre Calsoï

La Lettre Calsoï

Readings from the world of innovation: the breakthroughs, the stories and the lessons that illuminate the present. By Jean-Christophe Simon. These articles are English versions of a newsletter published in French.

13 July 2026

Three breakthroughs, one atom, or the Oxford chemist reinventing fluorine

While the world debates artificial intelligence, a Belgian chemist based in Oxford is dismantling, one after another, the old certainties of an industry born a hundred and fifty years ago.

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7 July 2026

From notebook and pencil to xG, or football's silent revolution

While everyone celebrated talent and instinct, a handful of contrarians started counting. What they found redrew how matches are won.

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21 June 2026

The "literal videos", or the clip that sang what it showed

In 2008, a production assistant had an idea so simple no one had dared it: rewrite a music video's lyrics so they describe, word for word, what you see on screen.

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4 June 2026

The Bayeux Tapestry, or seventy metres of innovation

Before printing, before cinema, before the comic strip, a few embroiderers invented a way to tell a story. Nine centuries later, it still stands.

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See also: my Innovation & R&D carousels, thirty field topics on R&D leadership and innovation strategy.