PrefaceIntroductionSTORIES: Discoveries about CreativityLaws Of Planetary MotionElectricity From CloudsBand-AidPneumatic TyresGummed PaperThe Trap Of ParadigmInvention Of Sewing MachineJust-In-Time SystemTransmission of Nerve ImpulsesPrinting PressDangers Of LocomotivesFlashlightLawn MowerPhonographRubber HeelsThe Periodic TableDiscovery Of Electromagnetic FieldsThe Tao Of PhysicsCongenital Impact of RubellaTypewriterThe Theory Of EvolutionThe Benzene RingThe Wreck Of TitanicWagner's RheingoldUnderwater ConstructionSearch For The "Hidden Likeness"Fermi & Nuclear FissionCash RegisterDiscovery Of Current ElectricityCure Of DiabetesBoolean AlgebraPrinciple Of PhotosynthesisBall Point PenThe X-RayThe Fuschian FunctionsSafety GlassThe Creative TriggersWhy Aeroplanes Cannot FlyThe "Brownies" Of StevensonThe Blunder That Founded 3MInvention Of AC MotorDiscovery Of TeflonToynbee's The Study Of HistoryInventors' BlindnessThe Excitement Of CreativityElectric FanHow Typhus Gets TransmittedProof Of The Big BangMathematical Theory Of ChanceColeridge's Kubla KhanVulcanisation ProcessStructure Of The CrystalsThe Compulsion To Create3M's Post-It Note PadsIce Cream ConesThe Structural Theory Of AtomIBM And ComputersHelicopterHow Experts Resist IdeasCreative Reveries Of Enid BlytonPredictions In Gulliver's TravelsFloat Glass TechnologyPrinciple Of ImmunisationJourney Into UnknownThe Genius Of Karl Fredrich GaussJean Coceteau's The Knights Of The Round TableNeon LightTransistor RadiosPrecocious Minds?The Masterpiece Of Sir Walter ScottThe "Fraud" That Changed The WorldThe "99% Perspiration"XeroxingThe Poem Of Stephen SpenderThe Anatomy Of InspirationTravellers' ChequesEdison's FraudAwe, Wonder And AlienationThe Logic Of Irrational
Epilogue: Themes & Patterns |
Introduction
The right brain, in contrast, processes information in a more chaotic but exhilarating manner. It is more holistic and natural. It allows freedom to let the understanding emerge from amidst the confusions. It does not follow any specific given sequence to process information, and often may not even lead to any precise deductions. What one may arrive at the end of this kind of thinking, is a nebulous and hazy comprehension as to what the whole thing is about, its essence. One often 'knows', even if one may not be able to describe what one knows. The insight lies in the sense of excitement, awe and wonder, which this knowing generates. The design of this book aims to recreate this sense of wonder and amazement. The stories do not sequentially move from one thesis to another. Rather, they jump back and forth between themes, moving from one to another - sometimes going in one direction, sometimes digressing, and often repeating themselves. The appropriate analogy would be jumping logs to cross the flowing river: one does not move in a straight direction, but adjusts to a random flow. One skips logs, but then comes back to them - sometimes feeling thrilled, often dizzy. It may not be the most efficient way of crossing the stream, but it is definitely the more adventurous one. By the end, one also has a better 'feel' of the river and of the logs. It is this kind of 'feel' which this book aims to create. One must add that these stories also do not aim at any kind of conclusions - it would be self-defeating to force a conclusion on a phenomenon which is open-ended by nature. When so much can't be explained about creative process (as one would find), any definitive inference about its nature would be necessarily incomplete, if not misleading. One hopes, however, that these stories would help the readers to arrive at their own conclusions about what creativity is. Of course, one does realise that there are patterns in the randomness, even if they are bounded by the subjectivity of the perceiver. The last chapter - Themes & Patterns - at the end tries to discern these patterns, as much comprehensively as is possible. Since one story often says more than one things at the same time, one is also likely to find repetitions in these categories. Moreover, one may not agree with the patterns at all, or may discover new ones, not listed there. One does hope, however, that by the time the reader reaches this part of the book, he would be 'knowing' the essence of the creative phenomenon - that it is startlingly unusual and is remarkable in its simplicity. In fact, in the ultimate analysis one would realise that the creative act, like Creation, is an uncomplicated and unpretentious phenomenon. Its mystery lies in the strangeness which is so familiar.
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