Imagine That!

Annals of Ordinary and Extraordinary Genius

Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein are co-authors of Sparks of Genius, The 13 Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People (Houghton Mifflin, 1999). See full bio

April 28, 2009

Inner Beginners, Entrepreneurs and the Future of Creativity

Creativity favors the inner beginner. This was the message we took home last month from a national symposium on creativity at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. A light green haze hung in the dogwoods in and around campus, but spring was not the only thing in the air there. Three themes ran through our two-day experience like sap in the trees. Let's call them supra-disciplinarity, the creator as neophyte, and creativity as a positive social value. The future of innovation depends upon them.

April 8, 2009

ArtScience® is a Big Idea

ArtScience® is a Big Idea whose time has come. Like any galvanizing notion, it has been preparing to break through for many years. We like to think that our book Sparks of Genius (Houghton Mifflin, 1999) has had some small part in that preparation. Here's how. Read More

March 23, 2009

Identifying and Training Creative Scientists

How do you search for scientific talent? What criteria should you use? IQ scores? High scores on math and science tests? Precocity in a scientific field? Some of the best scientists recommend looking for breadth of skills and talents in a variety of endeavors beyond the sciences.

March 6, 2009

Arts and Crafts: Keys to Scientific Creativity

Over the course of a career, what makes one scientist more successful than another? The Scientist Project, a longitudinal study of a diverse set of scientists, revealed an unsuspected secret: arts and crafts hobbies.
Read More

February 11, 2009

A Missing Piece in the Economic Stimulus: Hobbling Arts Hobbles Innovation

As the economy stumbles, the first things to get cut at the national, state, and local levels are the arts. Arts, common wisdom tells us, are luxuries we can do without in times of crisis. Or can we? Read More

February 6, 2009

Worldplay: One Cure for Imagination Deficit Disorder

Your nine-year-old daughter has invented her own secret country in the intricate patterns of your living room rug. Your neighbor's sons, age twelve and ten, spend hours dreaming up the play-by-play of an imaginary baseball league. They've all been at this for months. Should you worry? Read More

January 21, 2009

The Art and Science of Play

Some people seem born to play. In fact, the urge to play drives just about everything they do. And in some cases, it ends up linking multiple interests and endeavors across the arts and sciences into one large network of creative enterprise. Among these people count Desmond Morris, artist, scientist and science writer. Read More

December 31, 2008

A New New Year’s Resolution: Play More!

It's that time of year again when we all resolve to make some changes that will have a positive impact on our lives. What could be more life-enhancing than nurturing our own creativity? The question is how? We offer a simple answer. Resolve to make (more) room in your life for play.
Read More

December 17, 2008

Teaching Creativity, 2: Debunking the Mozart Myth

In the 1980s, we taught a class on creative process at UCLA. Much to our dismay, many of our students accepted certain myths about creative invention that misled and demoralized them. The same myths cripple people in all walks of life. Debunking those myths can unleash creativity overnight, as the experience of one young man in our class testifies. Read More

December 2, 2008

Hobbies: The Personal Path to Creativity

To be or become "creative" is a familiar imperative in our society, but many people are often at a loss as to how to proceed. We believe the first step is to find time for imaginative play. The second (which is really more of the first) is to get a hobby. Read More

Books by Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein

Sparks of Genius: The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People

Discovering

Boulevard Theater and Revolution in Eighteenth-Century Paris (Theater and Dramatic Studies)

Creativity Basics

Even those of us not in explicitly creative fields must come up with new ideas and insights in order to move ahead. How can we shake up our thinking patterns?

Go to the Creativity Basics page for more on Creativity including:

Current Issue

Everyday Creativity

How to start living creatively and reap the benefits.

Subscribe to Imagine That!

Books by Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein

Creativity Basics

Current Issue