Leidy Klotz

SUBTRACT: The Untapped Science of Less (Flatiron Books, 2021). Subtract is recognized as an essential read in behavioral science, design, environmental, business, well-being, and education. The book builds from Klotz's research showing that the human mind tends to add before taking away, even to our detriment. The first half of the book discusses biological, cultural, and socio-economic explanations for this tendency. The second half of the book offers ways to overcome harmful subtraction neglect, drawing from science and from subtracting examples and exemplars such as: Maya Lin, Elinor Ostrom, The Embarcadero Freeway, Balance Bikes, Anna Keichline, and Bruce Springsteen.

Klotz is currently a Professor of Engineering and Architecture at the University of Virginia. He studies and teaches the science of design, and, in 2019, co-chaired a Nature Sustainability Expert Panel on this topic. He has published articles in Nature and Science and, as of 2022, has an h-index of 24. His research has been covered by The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The World Economic Forum, Grist, Scientific American, and newspapers around the world.

Sustainability through Soccer (University of California Press, 2016).

Klotz played professionally for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, making 31 appearances and scoring 3 goals in the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Klotz was a 2x Division I All-American at Lafayette College. He was inducted into the Lafayette College Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Homer High School Hall of Fame in 2009.

Leidy Klotz (born July 14, 1978) is an American scientist and author who studies and writes about design and problem-solving. He is a professor of engineering and architecture at the University of Virginia. Klotz has published in scientific journals including Nature and Science and in other publications such as The Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and The Globe and Mail. He is also the author of two popular books: Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less (2021), which discusses design and problem-solving, and Sustainability through Soccer (2016), a work about systems thinking.