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Title: Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity Seen Through the Lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi by Howard Gardner ISBN: 0-465-01454-2 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.58 (12 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The "Creative Enterprise Writ Large"
Comment: This is one of the most enjoyable as well as one of the most informative books I have read in recent years. I have long admired Gardner's work, especially his research on multiple intelligences which he discusses in other works such as Intelligence Reframed (2000), Frames of Mind (1993), and Multiple Intelligences (also 1993). As Gardner explains in the Preface, this volume" represents both a culmination and a beginning: a culmination in that it brings together my lifelong interests in the phenomena of creativity and the particulars of history; a beginning in that introduces a new approach to the study of human creative endeavors, one that draws on social-scientific as well as humanistic traditions." Specifically, this "new approach" begins with the individual but then focuses both on the particular "domain," or symbol system, in which an individual functions and on the group of individuals, or members of what Gardner calls the "field," who judge the quality of the new work in the domain.
This is the approach he takes when analyzing the lives and achievements of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi. Throughout the book, Gardner makes brilliant use of both exposition (e.g. analysis, comparison and contrast) and narration (especially when examining causal relationships of special significance) to reveal, explain, and evaluate each of the seven geniuses.
Gardner sets for himself several specific objectives:
"First, I seek to enter into the worlds that each of the seven figures occupied during the period under investigation -- roughly speaking, the half century from 1885 to 1935."
"In so doing, I hope to illuminate the nature of their own particular, often peculiar, intellectual capacities, personality configurations, social arrangements, and creative agendas, struggles and accomplishments."
Also, "I seek conclusions about the nature of the Creative Enterprise writ large. I believe that if we can better understand the breakthroughs achieved by the individuals deliberately drawn from diverse domains, we should be able to tease out the principles that govern creative human activity, wherever it arises."
Finally, "I seek conclusions about the sparkling, if often troubled, handful of decades that I term 'the modern era'...Such a selection [of the seven during the half-century period] allows me to comment not only on [their] particular achievemnents...but also on the times that formed them, and that they in turn helped to define."
Gardner achieves all of these objectives while somehow maintaining a delicate balance between respecting (indeed celebrating) individual genius and explaining the relevance (to each of the seven) of three relationships which are common to them all: the relationship between what he calls the "child" and the "master" throughout human development; the relationship between an individual and the work in which he or she is engaged; and finally, the relationship between the individual and other persons in his or her world.
Of special interest to me is Gardner's acknowledgment that two themes emerged during the course of his research for this book which he had not anticipated when he began. Citing a "confidant" relationship with Fleiss from whom Freud received "sustenance" when he needed it most, Gardner gradually realized that a relationship of this kind, "far from being an isolated case," represents the "norm" among the other six. Besso played much the same role for Einstein, Braque for Picasso, the Diaghilev circle for Stravinsky, Pound for Eliot, Horst for Graham, and Anasyra Sarabhai for Gandhi.
Gardner cites what he calls "the Faustian bargain" as the second theme which emerged unexpectedly during his research. This subject is much too complicated to be summarized in a review such as this. Suffice to note now that inorder to maintain their gifts and continue their work, the seven creators "went through behaviors or practices of a fundamentally superstitious, irrational, or compulsive nature," thereby sacrificing normal relationships with family members and friends. "The kind of bargain may vary, but the tenacity with which it is maintained seems consistent." I intend to keep these two themes in mind when I re-read this extraordinary book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Explore creativity and multiple intelligence in one book
Comment: Howard Gardner is a leading writer and educator who developed the theory of 'Multiple Intelligence'. I have read most of what he has written, and I found this to be one of the more enjoyable and accessible books. What makes this a powerful book is that it takes his theoretical concept (Multiple Intelligence), and explores it from the perspective of renowned individuals who creatively exhibited a specific intelligence style.
Gardner's theories are groundbreaking and this book is a great introduction, but also don't miss his seminal work in this area (Multiple Intelligence). I have had two children that have participated in multiple intelligence programs in school, and the results of those programs have been outstanding. I truly believe that if the concept that his work explored were deployed throughout our educational institutions that we would have many more "learners" as opposed to students.
As the author of Aha! - 10 Ways To Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas, I was deeply influenced by Gardner's work. I believe that anyone who wants a better understanding of how learning styles and can impact the creativity of an individual will gain much from "Creating Minds."
Rating: 5
Summary: A source of inspiration
Comment: I look to this book when I think about what to do with my life. Gardner is one of my favorite writers, someone who turned me on to Cognitive Science, and one of the only science authors I've read cover to cover.
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Title: Thinking (3rd Edition) by Gary R. Kirby, Jeffery R. Goodpaster ISBN: 0130923915 Publisher: Prentice Hall Pub. Date: 28 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $44.00 |
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Title: Learning as a Way of Being : Strategies for Survival in a World of Permanent White Water (Jossey-Bass Business & Management Series) by Peter B. Vaill ISBN: 0787902462 Publisher: Jossey-Bass Pub. Date: 26 March, 1996 List Price(USD): $28.95 |
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Title: Dissertations and Theses from Start to Finish: Psychology and Related Fields by John D. Cone, Sharon L. Foster ISBN: 1557981949 Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA) Pub. Date: 01 May, 1993 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Bass and Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications by Bernard M. Bass, Ralph M. Stogdill ISBN: 0029015006 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1990 List Price(USD): $90.00 |
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Title: The Evolution of Management Thought, 4th Edition by Daniel A. Wren ISBN: 047159752X Publisher: Wiley Text Books Pub. Date: 11 November, 1993 List Price(USD): $98.95 |
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