Nancy Andreasen is the Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry and director of the Mental Health Clinical Research Center at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. She served for twelve years as the editor in chief of the American Journal of Psychiatry and has authored or edited fifteen books, including The Broken Brain and Brave New Brain. She was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Clinton.
Neuroscientists, until recently, shied away from the big questions--such as 'what is consciousness, ' 'what is abstract thinking, ' or (the topic of this book) 'what is creativity'--as being empirically unapproachable. Nancy Andreasen's book comes as a welcome antidote to this inherent conservatism and shows us how creativity can be approached scientifically. In a market flooded with 'new age' books on creativity, Dr. Andreasen's meticulously researched contribution comes as a breath of fresh air. --V.S. Ramachandran, MD, Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California-San Diego, and author of A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness Our leading authority on creativity reveals herself with this splendid book. --Kurt Vonnegut Expert analysis of the connections between extraordinary creativity, mental illness, intelligence, and the social environment... Andreasen leaves us with hope that the potential exists to enhance the creative capacity in our children and ourselves. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Andreasen writes with clarity and ease... She makes wonderful connections between the arts and the sciences. --Nature Expert analysis of the connections between extraordinary creativity, mental illness, intelligence, and the social environment Andreasen leaves us with hope that the potential exists to enhance the creative capacity in our children and ourselves. Publishers Weekly (starred review) Andreasen writes with clarity and ease She makes wonderful connections between the arts and the sciences. Nature Expert analysis of the connections between extraordinary creativity, mental illness, intelligence, and the social environment... Andreasen leaves us with hope that the potential exists to enhance the creative capacity in our children and ourselves. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Andreasen writes with clarity and ease... She makes wonderful connections between the arts and the sciences. --Nature