Imagine : the science of creativity

Creativity: It’s singing the song that has never been sung and solving the problem that seems impossible. It’s the free verse poem and the mathematical equation, the abstract painter and the patient inventor. It’s the ability to see the world as it is, and then to imagine how it might be.

Jonah Lehrer is on a mission to unlock the mysteries of creativity and invention, starting at the source: inside our head. Discover why humans are the creative species, where original ideas come from and how we can learn to generate more of them.

Leaping agilely from anecdotes to scientific theories, from Bob Dylan to modernist furniture design and from the benefits of office ping-pong tables to how magicians come up with new tricks, Imagine brings clarity and insight to the most mysterious function of our brain—creativity.

Listen to Jonah Lehrer discuss ways to foster creativity in the workplace, in an interview on NPR radio.

Praise for Imagine:

‘Jonah Lehrer’s new book confirms what his fans have known all along—that he knows more about science than a lot of scientists and more about writing than a lot of writers.’

Malcolm Gladwell

‘A precocious and engaging book that tries to mend the century-old tear between literary and scientific cultures…Lehrer is smart,and there are some fun moments in these pages.’

New York Times Book Review

‘Lehrer is gifted with the ability to find philosophy inscience and stray bits of science buried amid the rubble of literary history. He is less critic than armchair philosopher, searching for meaning anywhere great thinkers have left their footprints.’

San Francisco Chronicle