Appearance
Creativity and Madness: New Findings and Old Stereotypes
I found Rothenberg's insights about the characteristics of creativity the most meaningful ideas in the book. He has learned several methods of those who are creative, and these are helpful anyone wanting to be creative or help someone else like a child become creative.He does a good job debunking some of the myths that associate creativity with mental illness by showing several cases of mentally ill creators. He shows that their creative times did not coincide with the severe bouts of mental illness.He profiles a few artists, Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Eugene O'Neil, and JOhn Cheever among others. It is interesting to read how these successful people dealt effectively or ineffectively with mental illness.The author offers his conclusions about creativity and its association with mental illness. Whether they are ultimately conclusive, the reader can decide. He is a thorough researcher and writer, so this is a book worth reading if you are interested in the subject matter.
Creativity and Madness: New Findings and Old Stereotypes
Rothenberg's 1994 book claims to have supposedly "debunked" the "myth" between creativity and madness based on his "new findings and old stereotypes" that many geniuses such as aristotle have proclaimed a link between the two for thousands of years. He states that previous studies linking bipolar disorder to creativity were biased and a link to schizophrenia is nonexistent. He bases this on sketchy evidence with nobel laureates where there responses to a creativity test called a word association test had a slightly different response style then psychotics. He then comes to the narrow conclusion that creativity is mostly based on juxtaposition and homospatial thinking which he contends is the part of the test that nobel laureates have scored high in and psychotics didn't based on the results of his word association test.However, since then a rigourous longitudinal study has come out in a book called "The Price of Greatness: Resolving the Creativity and Madness Controversy" found that Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia like psychosis, and other disorders are Much more prevalent among creatively eminent people then they are found in the general population. Studies by Hans Eysenck and others have also shown that psychopathology (or personality traits that predispose to psychosis) is much higher in creative people then in non-creative people in the general population. Also relatives of people with mental disorders are on average more creative then in the general population. To top it all off a study done by Peter Jordanson and colleagues has found one of the biological basis to creativity, which is that creative people score low on measures of latent inhibition which measure one's openness to novel stimuli or new possibilities. People with mental illness, particularly Schizophrenics, also score low on latent inhibition showing they have a trait that is essential for creativity, and that creative achievers also have. Of course Rothenberg obviously wasn't open to this possibility (which has now been scientifically proven), when he wrote this book. While at the same time other creativity researchers were (go figure). While Rothenberg's theory does have some truth in it such as obvious facts that creative achievement and insanity aren't the same thing and in fact that insanity in itself can be destructive to creative achievement; or that not all mentally ill people necessarily become eminent creative achievers. His main premise of the book that there is no link between creativity and madness has been proven false and it is clear that he was probably the one who was biased against any association between creativity and madness to begin with.Then again psychiatrists, which are in the same profession as Rothenberg, often note that there is some truth in every delusion. Which I suppose means that even though "new findings and old stereotypes" has disproven Rothenberg's "delusion" (or false belief) of their not being any link between creativity and madness, his "delusional theory" should not be thought of as not being true at all. As he does make some (although mostly obvious) points about the subject in his book.
For Love of Insects
Imagine beetles ejecting defensive sprays as hot as boiling water; female moths holding their mates for ransom; caterpillars disguising themselves as flowers by fastening petals to their bodies; termites emitting a viscous glue to rally fellow soldiers--and you will have entered an insect world once beyond imagining, a world observed and described down to its tiniest astonishing detail by Thomas Eisner. The story of a lifetime of such minute explorations, For Love of Insects celebrates the small creatures that have emerged triumphant on the planet, the beneficiaries of extraordinary evolutionary inventiveness and unparalleled reproductive capacity.To understand the success of insects is to appreciate our own shortcomings, Eisner tells us, but never has a reckoning been such a pleasure. Recounting exploits and discoveries in his lab at Cornell and in the field in Uruguay, Australia, Panama, Europe, and North America, Eisner time and again demonstrates how inquiry into the survival strategies of an insect leads to clarifications beyond the expected; insects are revealed as masters of achievement, forms of life worthy of study and respect from even the most recalcitrant entomophobe. Filled with descriptions of his ingenious experiments and illustrated with photographs unmatched for their combination of scientific content and delicate beauty, Eisner's book makes readers participants in the grand adventure of discovery on a scale infinitesimally small, and infinitely surprising.NOT ALL WORDS. PICTURES TOO !!!!!!!
For Love of Insects
For Love of InsectsThomas EisnerForeword by Edward O. WilsonAlthough insects are not usually the stars of popular-science writing, this engaging look at how one scientist studies their lives may add them to the most-requested lists of science- and animal-loving readers.--Nancy Bent, BooklistFor Love of Insects is especially valuable because it explains the steps missing from the research reports in Nature and Science: [Eisner] tells the story from first noticing a bug on a walk in the woods, through experiments and analytical chemistry, to a final understanding of each phenomenon...For Love of Insects is a fascinating introduction to a world we poor humans--barely able to detect most chemicals--seldom notice.--Jonathan Beard, New Scientist [UK][Eisner's] new book is a personal memoir of a lifetime in science, engagingly written and stunningly illustrated with photographs of insects doing astonishing things...What makes Eisner a world-class entomologist is not access to million-dollar scientific instruments, but a mind that never stops asking 'Why?'--Chet Raymo, Boston GlobeThis is one of the best nature titles in the last several years.--Kim Long, Bloomsbury Review[P]repare to be amazed. Brimming with enthusiasm, Eisner reveals a world of unbelievable majesty and complexity in the simplest of insects. The photographs alone are worth the price of the book, but the text crackles with the electricity of a brilliant genius at work, as Eisner leads the reader from simple observation to major scientific breakthrough. In fact this book should be required reading for every biology student because it illuminates the basic principle that passion and curiosity are the twin pillars of all great science.--David Lukas, Los Angeles TimesThe world has eagerly awaited these enchanting tales of insect life, brimming with discovery, insight, and wry humor. They're a master entomologist's masterwork. The photographs are also extraordinary, both illuminating and exquisitely beautiful.--Diane Ackerman, Cornell UniversityI don't know whether I like the text or the photographs of For Love of Insects better. The former is brilliant, the product of the dean of chemical ecology and a world-renowned expert on insects. The latter are spectacular, the work of an outstanding photographer -- once again Tom Eisner. No naturalist or natural scientist will want to be without this book. Indeed, if everyone would take the time to read it and look at the amazing pictures our society would benefit greatly from an enhanced appreciation of the insect world.--Paul Ehrlich, President, Center for Conservation Biology, Stanford UniversityLove of insects? Hell, that's barely the half of it! Better Tom Eisner had called this book Love of Life and the Lively of progeny and all provenance! With boundless verve and grace and marvel and delight, Tom Eisner proves himself, across these dazzling pages, to be one of the all-time great biophiliacs. Ah, the blessing, for the rest of us, to be alive alongside him!--Lawrence Weschler, Director of the New York Institute for the Humanities and author of Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of WonderThere are few books which present the fullness of a life in science as powerfully, as modestly, and as enchantingly as this one. The excitement of Tom Eisner's fundamental investigations are mingled with vivid descriptions of his many other loves and enthusiasms--for music and literature no less than for the natural world--in seamless and beautiful prose. For Love of Insects is not only a delight to read, but, with its amazing photographs, a visual feast, too.--Oliver Sachs, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
For Love of Insects
VERY interesting to read, does not condescend but at the same time does not leave the layperson baffled. Well done. Enthusiastically written and modular--if you skip chapters no impact.HIGHLY recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in scientific method, insects, and biological sciences.
For Love of Insects
First thing you do when you get a new entomology book is thumb through the pictures. And you will enjoy the pictures in this book.But while many books have little to offer after the pictures, Eisner gives you lively, first hand narratives on how he discovered many secrets to the private lives of insects.One of the first little mysteries Eisner discusses is how he developed his nose for benzoquinone detection at an early age and how he put it to good use in discovering how species of cockroaches use them for defense.There are many such stories in this book that will be a delight to people who like to study insects.