"Perspective: Creativity" - Academy Street Network vol. 1 issue 4 - National Solar Power Research Institute, Inc.

Volume 1, Issue 4 April 1994

PERSPECTIVE: CREATIVITY

Who are Darwin, Einstein and Newton? They are geniuses. Why are they geniuses? Because they are creative and solve problems, problems that we and many other scientists have only wondered at. Nevertheless, creativity is more than problem-solving. It is problem finding. Einstein (Einstein and Infeld, 1938) reminds us:

The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new problems, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advances in science (p.92).

Creativity is the ability to formulate problems and create new problem-solving processes (such as the comparative method which was invented by Darwin). Therefore, don't be ashamed of asking simple questions; it can be a sign of your creativity. Remember, rather than reaching the correct answer, the hallmark of discovery is prompting the right answer. -- A. To

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National Solar Power Research Institute, Inc., © 1994. V1 I4.
Editor - Mark Ciotola; Assoc. Editor - A. To; Publisher - Peter Spangler. Contributing writers: Abdoulaye Yansane, Jean Wu, Ri-Xi Liang, Zilian Tang. Officers: Ri-Gui Dalia Liang, Ann Marie Cheng and Mark Ciotola. Subscriptions: 50¢ reimbursement per issue domestic / 23¢ plus postage foreign. A matching donation is suggested, but optional. Limited number of free copies available. Mail subscriptions and correspondence to the National Solar Power Research Institute, Inc., 601 Van Ness Avenue Suite E3248, San Francisco, CA 94102.