How can we account for the sudden appearance of such dazzling artists and scientists as Mozart, Shakespeare, Darwin, or Einstein? How can we define such genius? What conditions or personality traits seem to produce exceptionally creative people? Is the association between genius and madness really just a myth? These and many other questions are brilliantly illuminated in The Origins of Genius. Dean Simonton convincingly argues that creativity can best be understood as a Darwinian process of variation and selection. The artist or scientist generates a wealth of ideas, and then...
How can we account for the sudden appearance of such dazzling artists and scientists as Mozart, Shakespeare, Darwin, or Einstein? How can we define su...
Where do major scientific breakthroughs come from? Do they arise from the logic of the scientific method, or do they result from flashes of genius? Are they the products of some mysterious zeitgeist, or spirit of the times, or do they emerge from chance or serendipity? Dean Simonton provides an answer, not by choosing one explanation and ignoring the others, but rather by unifying all four perspectives into a single theory in which chance plays the primary role, but with the significant involvement of logic, genius and zeitgeist.
Where do major scientific breakthroughs come from? Do they arise from the logic of the scientific method, or do they result from flashes of genius? Ar...
Where do major scientific breakthroughs come from? Do they arise from the logic of the scientific method, or do they result from flashes of genius? Are they the products of some mysterious zeitgeist, or spirit of the times, or do they emerge from chance or serendipity? Dean Simonton provides an answer, not by choosing one explanation and ignoring the others, but rather by unifying all four perspectives into a single theory in which chance plays the primary role, but with the significant involvement of logic, genius and zeitgeist.
Where do major scientific breakthroughs come from? Do they arise from the logic of the scientific method, or do they result from flashes of genius? Ar...
What do Madonna, Confucius, and Jackie Robinson have in common? What does it take to go down in history as a great political leader? Why do revolutions occur, riots break out, and lynch mobs assemble? Which events do people find the most shocking or memorable? This path-breaking work offers the first comprehensive examination of the important personalities and events that have influenced the course of history. It discusses whether people who go down in history are different from the rest of us; whether specific personality traits predispose certain people to become world leaders, movie...
What do Madonna, Confucius, and Jackie Robinson have in common? What does it take to go down in history as a great political leader? Why do revolution...
This path-breaking work offers the first comprehensive examination of the important personalities and events that have influenced the course of history. It discusses whether people who go down in history are different from the rest of us, and whether specific personality traits predispose certain people to become important world leaders, movie stars, scientific geniuses, and athletes. Simonton examines the full range of phenomena associated with greatness--everything from genetic inheritance, intuition, aesthetic appreciation, and birth order, to formal education, sexual orientation, aging,...
This path-breaking work offers the first comprehensive examination of the important personalities and events that have influenced the course of histor...
Genius 101 makes for a great read on a centuries-old scientific puzzle - as well as a lively text on the wellsprings and manifestations of genius."
Teresa M. Amabile, PhD The Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration Harvard Business School
A] clear and engaging summary of this mysterious and utterly important phenomenon written by arguably the world's expert on the topic. Nearly 30 years of Simonton's fascination and focused intellect on the topic of exemplary genius come together in this brief, accessible and insightful volume. If only all...
Genius 101 makes for a great read on a centuries-old scientific puzzle - as well as a lively text on the wellsprings and manifestations of g...
What underlies the worlds most acclaimed acts of creative genius? Can we predict who has the capacity to become a noble creator? These are just a sample of questions addressed by the studies in this book, tackled by the author in unique fashion. He first compiles large databases on samples of eminent creators and their products. The databases, which may include both biographical and historical information, as well as characteristics on the creations, are then subjected to advanced statistical analyses. In this way, the investigator can tease out the factors that led to the achievements of...
What underlies the worlds most acclaimed acts of creative genius? Can we predict who has the capacity to become a noble creator? These are just a s...
What underlies the worlds most acclaimed acts of creative genius? Can we predict who has the capacity to become a noble creator? These are just a sample of questions addressed by the studies in this book, tackled by the author in unique fashion. He first compiles large databases on samples of eminent creators and their products. The databases, which may include both biographical and historical information, as well as characteristics on the creations, are then subjected to advanced statistical analyses. In this way, the investigator can tease out the factors that led to the achievements of...
What underlies the worlds most acclaimed acts of creative genius? Can we predict who has the capacity to become a noble creator? These are just a s...
Dean Keith Simonton developed a theory of scientific genius called chance-configuration theory that accounts for mental processes and behaviors behind the creative act, including intuition, incubation, and serendipity as well as the cognitive and motivational styles of great scientists in terms of a personality typology. Simonton examines the causes and consequences of exceptional productivity: individual differences in lifetime output, the functional relation between age and achievement, the probabilistic connection between quantity and quality, and such issues as the Ortega hypothesis, the...
Dean Keith Simonton developed a theory of scientific genius called chance-configuration theory that accounts for mental processes and behaviors behind...
What does it take to make a great motion picture? What do we even mean by cinematic greatness? What is more important: movie awards, critical acclaim, or box office success? Who has the biggest impact: the writer, the director, or the actors? Scientific research has provided some provocative answers. This review of cinematic creativity and aesthetics is confined to scientific studies carried out by a multidisciplinary group of researchers. Do great films receive both shiny trophies and five stars? Chapter 2 concentrates on movie awards, including the Oscars and Golden Globes, and how...
What does it take to make a great motion picture? What do we even mean by cinematic greatness? What is more important: movie awards, critical acclaim,...
