Flight from Wonder reports the findings from an empirical study of 45 Nobel laureates in science from the United States and Europe concerning the creative processes that produce scientific discoveries. To this end, Albert Rothenberg designed an interview procedure to delineate the content and sequences of processes that lead scientists to specific creative achievements. He conducted interviews with Nobel laureates in the fields of medicine, physiology, physics, and chemistry and carried out matching interviews with a control group consisting of twelve accomplished engineers on the faculty of a leading engineering university. Rothenberg's results demonstrate that the Nobel laureates use three distinct cognitive creative processes to achieve key formulations and discoveries; the detailed nature and structure of these findings were reviewed by the Nobel laureates. To predict his findings, Rothenberg engaged with autobiographical accounts and work-in-progress manuscripts pertaining to the creative discoveries of outstanding scientists of the past including Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Max Planck, Neils Bohr, Hideki Yukawa, and James Watson. The book will interest students and general readers fascinated by creativity and the development of scientific inquiry and innovation.

Albert Rothenberg, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard University (Harvard Medical School)

Preface Introduction Chapter 1 - The Search for Creativity Chapter 2 - Research on Creativity: Scientific and General Chapter 3 - Empirical Background and Bases for the Investigation Chapter 4 - The Janusian Process in Scientific Creativity Chapter 5 - The Homospatial Process in Scientific Creativity Chapter 6 - The Sep-Con Articulation Process in Scientific Creativity Chapter 7 - Creative Emotions and Motivations Chapter 8 - Empirical Design: Methodology and Subjects Chapter 9 - The Janusian Process in Creative Discovery Chapter 10 - The Homospatial Process in Creative Discovery Chapter 11 - The Sep-Con Articulation Process in Creative Discovery Chapter 12 - Creative Emotions and Scientific Discovery Chapter 13 - Collaborators Chapter 14 - Developmental Background Chapter 15 - Comparison Control Group Chapter 16 - Flight from Wonder Notes