Origins of Genius: Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity

Studies abound on the causes of outstanding human accomplishment. A glance at Simonton's bibliography will confirm that observation. His own efforts to define the roots of creativity are of long standing. This work artfully assembles this wealth of information, placing it squarely within a "Darwinian perspective". With a modest disclaimer, Simonton sees this book as "one long argument", the phrase Darwin applied to Origin. He's correct to do so. This book exemplifies how far Darwin's ingenious idea of natural selection can reach. Simonton's well organised and clearly presented survey of the roots of creativity is an noteworthy effort.Darwin himself provides the pivotal focus in Simonton's study. He explains how Darwin's work is symbolised by a combination of genius, creativity and the capacity for hard work to bring ideas to fruition. He postulates two forms of "Darwinism" - primary, the purely biological and the secondary which he describes as "adaptive with environmental interaction". He strives to relate how primary Darwinism underlies the secondary form where genius can emerge. It's clear from his analysis that genius doesn't "just happen". Many elements are involved, and most or all must be brought into play to express creativity and have ideas disseminated to the wider world.Simonton places heavy reliance on the model proposed by Donald Campbell. Campbell proposed an "ideational" concept with the creative mind coping with rich variations of concepts and ways of expressing them. From this foundation Simonton goes on to discuss individual differences and how these fit within a Darwinian framework. From the individual, he analyses the "product" of the creative mind. In what is certain to arouse protest, he shows how the creative process is as "blind" in "seeking results" as is biological selection itself. The "product" is neither predictable nor easily fit into simple causation.Simonton's ideas have been thoroughly researched with the limits of available data. He has proposed a novel thesis in a fresh and readable manner. As a lighter touch, he offers a survey of the research linking genius with madness. While there will be much dissent, perhaps even acrimony in response to his ideas, it's certain much more research will result from his suggestions. If nothing else, that will keep this book as a point of focus for some time. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

I don't know how the author did it, but he produced a great book that was both ponderous and a real page-turner.I found this book to be extremely interesting and well-written in detail. But the author could be ponderous in repeating some sub-themes and points.You will learn a lot about the causes of genius and creativity but you won't walk away with a quick set of techniques to help you on your immediate problem. You will learn an overall approach of what has worked in the past.His references and analogies to Darwin make the book even better. His references of other readings are also excellent and very detailed. I really liked his comparison of artistic vs. scientific creativity or genius. One selection from the book that I found very interesting was this one on what makes for greatness in a genius: "... individual differences in total lifetime output are indeed associated with the degree of eminence achieved. In fact, research has consistently shown that the most powerful single predictor of reputation among both contemporaries and future generations is the person's sum total of contributions. Furthermore, almost all other variables that may correlate with the differnce in fame between individuals do so only because they affect the output of creative products." The point made in this sub-theme by Simonton was that it was the QUANTITY rather than the just the QUALITY that often was the leading indicator of peer acceptance of genius. If the genius is not stepping up to the plate and taking a lot of swings, he won't go down as a "Babe Ruth." Most of the geniuses studied were single home-runners.Another thing I liked about the author was an often used approach of revealing a concept, proving it with lots of historical details and studies, then when you were really convinced, he showed you why other studies show why that logic might be flawed. He did this several times in the book, and it was quite stimulating to see the flaws in many people's logic... after you had made the same fatal assumption or mistake.I highly recommend this book for those interested in the background and causes of genius and creativity. My copy of this book is heavily underlined.John DunbarSugar Land, TX

This book presents one theory on creativity, but that misleads. It covers another 30 theories along the way, using its one favored theory to knit and mesh, distinguish and fit all the others. Each page contains the same contents as entire other books on the subject (fortunately for this book; unfortunately for the others). I try my best to find faults with the books that I buy but I would be hard pressed to find a single fault with this book. You will learn more about creativity from this book, even if the theory it presents turns out to be wrong, than you will from any other book, I believe, though Sternberg, Amabile, Runco, Martindale, Gruber and a few few others have near competitors so excellent that you would be foolish not to buy their books as well. This book teaches you 30 theories of creativity while presenting its favored one. It is wonderful. Finite limited human beings can do no better.Some readers might think that this book is too researchy, especially readers looking for how to books on quick and easy creativity methods. Strangely, this book while maintaining all the professional balance and careful definition of any academic work, makes it much clearer what you have to do to become creative than the top 50 how to books combined. I counted an amazing 1100 particular suggestions in this book for how to make someone more creative--that is about 1000 more than any other published how to book and this book avoids the exaggerations, the sales language, and the imbalanced treatment of pros and cons of such lesser books.

I have read several of Simonton's books and dozens of his scientific articles. This book is without any question his very best. It is absolutely superb! Simonton is always extremely intelligent and awesomely creative. But in his previous works, I sometimes got the feeling that he was racing so fast to be productive that something important was being passed by. But in this extraordinary volume, he seems to have slowed down enough to smell the roses that he himself (as well as other creativity researchers) have flowered, and his careful reflection and superb writing shines in what ranks as possibly the best book yet written on the topic. It is bracingly, jarringly creative, beautifully crafted, highly counter-intuitive, sufficiently well-explained that even a statistical dufus like me can understand, and awesome in its expanse. Anyone who wishes to understand creativity must read this great book.

I have recently finished Origins of Genius and am about to dig into Simonton's Genius. I felt privileged to share a few hours with Simonton over the past week seeing how Darwin's ideas play a significant role in creativity. I was swept away by the book's breadth and enthralled by its Darwinian perspective. The book avoids technical jargon and is readily accessible to the general reader. Even after I finished the book, I found myself going back to reread the good bits.