Creative Inspiration in Science

Abstract

Personal accounts of the creative process in science tell us that there is no ‘method’ to the conception of a new scientific idea. Stories from physicist Richard Feynman, the author’s own scientific experience, an example of physics and biology working together, and a conversation of scientists assembled in Cambridge by The Imagination Institute, all give different accounts of the ways that imagination can play out in science. Themes emerge from these raw accounts that will shape the subsequent chapters: especially the experienced typology of imagination into visual, textual and abstract forms. The subtle interaction of conscious and non-conscious thought raises questions of the link between cognition and aesthetic response in mental creative acts.