Issues in scientific creativity: insight, perseverance and personal technique - Profiles of the 2002 Franklin Institute Laureates

In this paper, we reflect on some issues basic to the understanding of scientific creativity, including the nature of the "Ah Hah" experience; the relationship of that experience to perseverance; the development of a technique that fits one's personal strengths; the tension between building on and breaking out of intellectual traditions; and, because science is a social endeavor, some ways in which truly novel work has gained acceptance. This paper grows out of a set of interviews with the 2002 Franklin Institute Laureates. The interviews lead us to pay attention to the pairing of analytic ability with synthetic ability. The literature on problem solving has emphasized the importance of synthetic ability in scientific creativity, but has not paid equal attention to this pairing. Looking just at analytic ability, we find the Laureates continually rely on this ability when confronting new realms. Thus, instead of having felt anxiety as they moved into the fields which they have opened up, they experienced emotions ranging from comfort to joy. The Laureates often move into new fields. Their analytic skill allows them to do so with confidence and their creative curiosity gives them a taste for it. And working in their new and "uncrowded" fields they are free to pursue their own take on their own problems. Perhaps this lack of competitive pressure contributes to the personal satisfaction that runs through this group. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of The Franklin Institute.