- Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account
Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation 2nd Edition
by
R. Keith Sawyer
(Author)
R. Keith Sawyer
(Author)
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author?
Learn about Author Central
|


ISBN-13:
978-0199737574
ISBN-10:
0199737576
Why is ISBN important?
ISBN
Scan an ISBN with your phone
Use the Amazon App to scan ISBNs and compare prices.
This bar-code number lets you verify that you're getting exactly the right version or edition of a book. The 13-digit and 10-digit formats both work.

Use the Amazon App to scan ISBNs and compare prices.
Have one to sell?
Add to book club
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club?
Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Order within 20 hrs and 19 mins Details

Books with Buzz
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more
Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Download to your computer
|
Kindle Cloud Reader
|
Frequently bought together
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
- Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater CreativityKeith SawyerHardcover
- Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative MindPaperback
- Creativity 101, Second Edition (Psych 101 Series)Paperback
- Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and InventionPaperback
- Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of ArtmakingPaperback
- Group Genius: The Creative Power of CollaborationKeith SawyerHardcover
What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
- Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater CreativityKeith SawyerHardcover
- Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative MindPaperback
- Creativity 101, Second Edition (Psych 101 Series)Paperback
- The Nature of Human IntelligencePaperback
- The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality UnitsGrant WigginsPaperback
- Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and InventionPaperback
Special offers and product promotions
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Sawyer has put together a mountain of research from a variety of fields to create a unified approach to understanding how people manage to do something different. His book is readable and learned, origninal, but mindful of its relation to all that other work, and well worth the attention of anyone who wants to think seriously about innovation in the arts and in social organizations."
--Howard S. Becker, author of Art Worlds, Tricks of the Trade, and Outsiders
"An extremely knowledgable, wide-ranging, integrative summary of how the social sciences understand creativity. Keith Sawyer has again produced an intelligent and valuable contribution to knowledge. This is a volume that any scholar or lay-person interested in what creativity entails will want to have."
--Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Founding Co-Director, Quality of Life Research Center, and Distinguised Professor of Psychology and Management, School of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University
"With the publication of Explaining Creativity, Keith Sawyer has emerged as the leading young scholar and proponent of a sociocultural approach to the study of creativity. And with his remarkable grasp of this young field, Professor Sawyer has written the most comprehensive and compelling work on creativity studies in years."
--David Henry Feldman, Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts University, and author of Changing the World
"Without doubt Explaining Creativity is the most comprehensive single-volume presentation of what we know about the creative process, person, and product. Besides that, the book is extremely well written. It would be my first recommendation for anyone fascinated with creativity in all of its complexities and manifestations. There's simply nothing better out there for either specialist or general reader."
--Dean Keith Simonton, Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, and author of Origins of Genius
"R. Keith Sawyer's second edition of Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation is so expanded that it is a truly different book from the first edition. The first edition was (correctly) praised and appreciated; the second edition is required reading for anyone interested in the topic. In a just world, Sawyer's thorough and nuanced volume would be the best seller... Sawyer's book is easily the most thorough creativity text on the market." -- James C. Kaufman and Alexander S. McKay, PsycCRITIQUES
About the Author
Dr. Keith Sawyer is one of the world's leading scientific experts on creativity, innovation, and learning. In his first job after graduating from MIT, he designed videogames for Atari. He then worked for 6 years as a management consultant in Boston and New York, advising large corporations on the strategic use of information technology. He's been a jazz pianist for over 30 years, and performed with several improv theater groups in Chicago, as part of his research into jazz and improvisational theater.
His other books include GROUP GENIUS and ZIG ZAG: THE SURPRISING PATH TO GREATER CREATIVITY, and he has published over 80 scientific articles.
Dr. Sawyer is the Morgan Distinguished Professor in Educational Innovations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
His other books include GROUP GENIUS and ZIG ZAG: THE SURPRISING PATH TO GREATER CREATIVITY, and he has published over 80 scientific articles.
Dr. Sawyer is the Morgan Distinguished Professor in Educational Innovations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Product details
- Publisher : Oxford University Press; 2nd edition (January 12, 2012)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 568 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0199737576
- ISBN-13 : 978-0199737574
- Item Weight : 2.2 pounds
- Dimensions : 10 x 1.2 x 7 inches
-
Best Sellers Rank:
#237,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #160 in Psychology Education & Training (Books)
- #362 in Popular Psychology Creativity & Genius
- #508 in Medical Clinical Psychology
- Customer Reviews:
Fearless and inspiring
Discover Black voices on Audible. Learn more
Customer reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
43 global ratings
How are ratings calculated?
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2016
Verified Purchase
I have a M.S. on Creative Studies and this is one of my favorites... I would describe this book as a compass ... it has a thorough compilation of Creativity themes that will give you the "where to start". This book is science based and it contains a quick but well based overview to understand, study and discover Creativity in its many domains. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in the Science Behind Creativity. :)
3 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2012
Verified Purchase
In creativity research, which can often be vague, noisy and confusing, it's rare to find a text that's not only comprehensive and well-organized, but written with a minimum of jargon and a maximum of common sense. This results in a fresh look at the famous claims people have made over the years, as well as a remarkable breadth of coverage: everything from the sociocultural, individual, and biological aspects of creativity, to the many ways people have tried to measure it. There are even some straightforward, practical guidelines for becoming more creative oneself.
Along the way, Sawyer also solidly debunks some major misconceptions, like the simplistic belief that creativity resides only in the right side of the brain. Moreover, his inside knowledge of music (he's a jazz pianist) enables him to go deeper than most writers when describing the artistic process.
As the author of THE INSANITY HOAX: EXPOSING THE MYTH OF THE MAD GENIUS, I particularly appreciate Sawyer's slam-dunk of the notion that great talent requires great psychopathology. This is the primary focus of my book, while it's just one of his many concerns, but we do criticize the same shoddy research that keeps this unfortunate stereotype in the public mind.
All told, this book is a refreshing change from the usual psychology text: although it's packed full with solid information, it's easy to navigate, and a genuine pleasure to read.
Along the way, Sawyer also solidly debunks some major misconceptions, like the simplistic belief that creativity resides only in the right side of the brain. Moreover, his inside knowledge of music (he's a jazz pianist) enables him to go deeper than most writers when describing the artistic process.
As the author of THE INSANITY HOAX: EXPOSING THE MYTH OF THE MAD GENIUS, I particularly appreciate Sawyer's slam-dunk of the notion that great talent requires great psychopathology. This is the primary focus of my book, while it's just one of his many concerns, but we do criticize the same shoddy research that keeps this unfortunate stereotype in the public mind.
All told, this book is a refreshing change from the usual psychology text: although it's packed full with solid information, it's easy to navigate, and a genuine pleasure to read.
8 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
Bought this for a new class being formed at WOU and even though the class was unorganized this book helped keep me on track. It is very well written, clear, and easy to read. If you don;t understand something in one chapter it's most likely expanded on in the next few. We did jump around, but thats kinda expected and we followed everything easily.
2 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is an excellent and surprisingly readable textbook approach to the topic. I've been reading all the popular "creativity" books but I'm appreciating the way that Sawyer explains the science of what's known (or not!) about each aspect of creativity and the mind. I would recommend this book to anyone trying to understand creativity.
3 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2015
Verified Purchase
This book is very informative and captivating. It is your roadmap for unlocking creative intelligence in the classroom and in the workplace, with a great balance of science and psychology.
2 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2017
Verified Purchase
The definitive book on creativity.
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2015
Verified Purchase
Clear and very complete review on different dimensions of creativity. A must read book for everyone trying to understand the creativity field
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2015
Verified Purchase
I bought this for a class I am teaching on Communication and Creativity. Actually, I bought it twice. Once, before reading it, I misplaced it (some research shows that people who are untidy and disorganized are often the MOST creative people). So I bought it again. Then I found the first copy. Now I have two. Chapters are OK; a little dense for an undergraduate student.
One person found this helpful
Report abuse
Top reviews from other countries

M. Roberts
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2017Verified Purchase
Excellent book.

Viana Vong
3.0 out of 5 stars
Three Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 16, 2017Verified Purchase
This book has excellent quality

spectroscope
5.0 out of 5 stars
I heartily recommend it!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 18, 2013Verified Purchase
Simply superb. It covers everything you need to know about creativity. It is a pleasure to read despite containing huge resources of information accompanied by few images.

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great read!
Reviewed in Canada on February 20, 2020Verified Purchase
Read this book for a Masters of Rducation course but found it very insightful and would read it for pleasure.

Student
5.0 out of 5 stars
創造性研究の優れた標準教科書
Reviewed in Japan on February 28, 2014Verified Purchase
"Explaining Creativity"初版(2006)に
(1)"10章 Cognitive Neuroscience and Creativity"を加え、
(2)初版以後に発表された他の研究者の知見を取り入れて、
個人レベルからのアプローチの各章に新しい記述を加えた第2版です。
第2版で追加された10章では、最新の脳科学実験法による創造性の
実験結果が書いてあり、大変参考になりました。
10章で特に勉強になった点は:
創造性に優れる人の脳の活動は、画像解析の結果、
右脳でやや高いという傾向があるが、実際は左脳右脳ともに活発化しており、
実験で検出できるニューロンの活発化は平常時の3%以下にすぎないこと。
また、PETやfMRIではニューロン活性化から4秒後にしか血流の増加を検出できないことに加えて、
高次の創造性は脳の数十〜数百か所が関与しているために、
創造性のみに関わる部位を脳の画像解析という方法で特定することはできないということです。
巻末には、創造性研究の略年表、書籍、学術雑誌、年代ごとの重要な研究成果、
研究者一覧、学位をとれる大学院、関連学会が記載してあり、
専攻学生だけでなく、一般人にも貴重な情報源になっています。
(1)"10章 Cognitive Neuroscience and Creativity"を加え、
(2)初版以後に発表された他の研究者の知見を取り入れて、
個人レベルからのアプローチの各章に新しい記述を加えた第2版です。
第2版で追加された10章では、最新の脳科学実験法による創造性の
実験結果が書いてあり、大変参考になりました。
10章で特に勉強になった点は:
創造性に優れる人の脳の活動は、画像解析の結果、
右脳でやや高いという傾向があるが、実際は左脳右脳ともに活発化しており、
実験で検出できるニューロンの活発化は平常時の3%以下にすぎないこと。
また、PETやfMRIではニューロン活性化から4秒後にしか血流の増加を検出できないことに加えて、
高次の創造性は脳の数十〜数百か所が関与しているために、
創造性のみに関わる部位を脳の画像解析という方法で特定することはできないということです。
巻末には、創造性研究の略年表、書籍、学術雑誌、年代ごとの重要な研究成果、
研究者一覧、学位をとれる大学院、関連学会が記載してあり、
専攻学生だけでなく、一般人にも貴重な情報源になっています。
Customers who bought this item also bought
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
There's a problem loading this menu right now.
Get free delivery with Amazon Prime
Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books.