- Mass Market Paperback: 752 pages
- Publisher: Penguin UK; New edition edition (Feb 28 1990)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0140191917
- ISBN-13: 978-0140191912
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13 x 5.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 386 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #352,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
While the study of psychology has offered little in the way of explaining the creative process, Koestler examines the idea that we are at our most creative when rational thought is suspended--for example, in dreams and trancelike states. All who read The Act of Creation will find it a compelling and illuminating book.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The roots of human creativity and its relation to nature.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Act Of Creation (Mass Market Paperback)
THE ACT OF CREATION has attracted a cult following since its original 1964 publication. It set the stage for much of the "New Age" literature of the following decades.Koestler draws analogies between human creativity and evolution in nature, seeing them as two different aspects of a single process. Koestler's writing is eminently readable and still highly topical three decades later.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The intersection of lines of thought,
By
This review is from: Act Of Creation (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the first of Koestler's big three serious science books. The second is "The Sleepwalkes", on the contribution of Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo. The third is "The Ghost in the Machine", which contains a critique of behaviorist psychology and Koestler's theory to account for the apparent self-destructiveness of human nature."The Act of Creation" offers a theory to account for the "Ah Ha" reaction of scientific discovery, the "Ha Ha" reaction to jokes and the "Ah" reaction of mystical or religious insight. In each case the result is produced by a "bisociation of matrices" or the intersection of lines of thought which brings together hitherto unconnected ideas and fuses them into a creative synthesis. When the lines of thought are scientic the result is a scientific discovery, when they are concerned with devotional matters the result is mystical insight and when they are on a more homely plane the result can be a joke. The model is fleshed out with a great deal of information ranging from the religions of the world to a theory about the nervous system to account for the build-up of tension and its discharge at the puchline of a joke. Peter Medawar's review was scathing in his comments on Koestler's science, which is a shame because the book can have the desirable effect of encouraging young scientists to read far beyond the usual range of their literature.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rare masterpiece connecting the dots of insightful thought,
By A Customer
This review is from: Act Of Creation (Mass Market Paperback)
A fascinating read for the person who steps back and wonders - it gives glimpses and answers through an integrated body of research and a graceful and insightful fireside chat about it all. One of my all time favourite books. I can hardly wait to read it again!
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