Creativity And The Scientific Process

Eureka stories happen when decades of work get compressed into one inspirational moment.

The stories of Newton and Archimedes point to the need to quiet the mind and be contemplative. The falling apple and gravity, and overflowing bathtub and specific gravity show us that creativity needs space. Creative ideas often occur when scientists allow themselves to play.

Narratives of scientific discovery get polished after the fact.

• Newton was an old man when he told his friend, William Stukeley, that his thinking on the nature of gravity "was occasioned by the fall of an apple, as he sat in contemplative mood." The adage of "the ap...