Friday, December 28, 2012

BOOK REVIEW: "Sparks of Genius"

In Sparks of Genius, the Root-Bernsteins posit a strong case for brilliance manifesting itself in specific mental and physical activities that we can cultivate. Their exhaustive research and engaging stories suggest the J. S. Bachs, Anton Chekovs, Noam Chomskys, Albert Einsteins, Martha Grahams, Helen Kellers, Mary Leakeys, Vladimir Nabokovs, and Pablo Picassos of today or any era possess many or all of thirteen thinking tools. The authors systematically dedicate one chapter to each of these abilities: observing, imaging, abstracting, recognizing patters, forming patterns, analogizing, body thinking, empathizing, dimensional thinking, modeling, playing, transforming, and synthesizing.

They conclude with a powerful appeal to the educational system for providing environments, curricula, instructors, methodologies, and materials that elevate the arts, cross all disciplines, encourage creativity, and foster invention. Reading this book is like surveying the history and the future of innovation.
at
Labels:
  • Hold Those Hyphens
    A participant in one of my workshops, D. Hom, asked a question about hyphenating expressions such as “end of year.” Determining what to h...
  • The Hyphen: A Not-So-Well-Known Rule
    It's a good thing that the hyphen is not a frequently used punctuation mark because most people don't know how to use it. The hyp...
  • Is It "Me," "Myself," or "I"?
    READER QUESTION Which of the following sentences is correct? The contract was signed by Lee, Sam, and me . The contract was ...