Buy used £3.68

FREE delivery 3 - 7 August. Details

Select delivery location

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Infinite_Books

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the author

Jonah Lehrer

Imagine: How Creativity Works Hardcover – 19 April 2012

by Jonah Lehrer (Author)

4.2 269 ratings

See all formats and editions

Amazon Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover

"Please retry"

£10.57

£22.45

£10.57

Hardcover, 19 April 2012

£3.68

—

£1.70

Paperback

"Please retry"

£11.13

—

£10.94

Audio CD, Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

£71.95

—

£71.95

The profound mysteries of creative thought have long intimidated the world's finest brains. How do you measure the imagination? How do you quantify an epiphany? These daunting questions led researchers to neglect the subject for hundreds of years. In Jonah Lehrer's ambitious and enthralling new book, we go in search of the epiphany. Shattering the myth of creative 'types', Lehrer shows how new research is deepening our understanding of the human imagination. Creativity is not a 'gift' that only some possess. It's a term for a variety of distinct thought processes that we can all learn to use more effectively. Some acts of imagination are best done sipping espresso in a crowded cafe, while others require long walks in a quiet park. Lehrer helps us fit our creative strategies to the task at hand. The journey begins with the fluttering of neurons in the prefrontal cortex, before moving out to consider how this new science can also make neighbourhoods more vibrant, companies more productive and schools more effective. We'll learn about Bob Dylan's writing habits and the drug addiction of poets. We'll see why Elizabethan England experienced a creative explosion, and how Pixar designed its office space to get the most out of its talent. Collapsing the layers separating the neuron from the finished symphony, Imagine reveals the deep inventiveness of the human mind and its essential role in our increasingly complex world.

Print length

279 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Canongate Books Ltd
Publication date

19 April 2012
Dimensions

16.1 x 2.7 x 22 cm
ISBN-10

184767786X
ISBN-13

978-1847677860
See all details

Oliver Burkeman
6,719
Paperback
36 offers from £3.76
Merlin Sheldrake
6,044
Paperback
in Plant Sciences
26 offers from £9.10
J.K. Rowling
3,789
Hardcover
102 offers from £0.50

Product description

Review

'Imagine should appeal to everyone, not just because of Lehrer's compelling writing style but also because it puts paid to the idea that creativity is a gift enjoyed only by the lucky few. We can all be more creative, we just need to know how. This book will show you' --New Scientist

'This is an inspiring and engaging book that reveals creativity as less a sign of rare genius than a natural human potential' -- The Economist

'Jonah Lehrer's new book confirms what his fans have known all along - that he knows more about science than a lot of scientists and more about writing than a lot of writers' -- Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point

'Jonah Lehrer may be the most talented explainer of science that we've got. His engrossing investigation of creativity and its source makes Imagine his best book yet' -- Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein

'Not many writers can make plausible links among musicians Bob Dylan, Yo-Yo Ma and David Byrne, animators at Pixar, neuroscientists at MIT, an amateur bartender in New York, entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and Israeli army reservists . . . But Jonah Lehrer is such a writer-reporter, who weaves compelling and surprising connections based on detailed investigation and deep understanding . . . Reading his book exercises the imagination; the rest is up to us' -- Washington Post

'Lehrer is a thrilling multifaceted narrator...what Lehrer achieves in this book is a roaming yet cohesive description of the creative process, applied across disciplines' -- Observer

'An ecumenical hodgepodge of sociology, neuroscience and motivational examples that should be read by anyone with an interest in how human creativity works' -- Kevin Power, Sunday Business Post

'Lehrer unpicks the triggers that bring about bouts of creativity, be it Bob Dylan's writing or an engineer inventing the Post-it note. It could improve your chances of coming up with an idea of your own' -- Esquire Magazine

'The must-read book of the year for chief executives and wannabe entrepreneurs everywhere, a modern business bible for the enlightened boss' --Murad Ahmed, The Times

'This compelling discussion of the creative process speaks to our scientific age' --Stephen Cave, Financial Times

'Imagine moves engagingly between cutting-edge neuroscience and cultural sociology. It offers a double-sided portrait of invention and discovery' -- Boyd Tonkin, Independent

'If all science books were as successful in bridging the divide between art and science as this one is, there would no longer be a divide to bridge' -- Ian Critchley, Sunday Times

'[A] fascinating study of the mind' -- Word Magazine

'A snappy, sassy tour d'horizon of the state of the science of creativity' --New Statesman

About the Author

Jonah Lehrer is editor at large for Seed magazine and the author of The Decisive Moment: How the Brain Makes Up Its Mind. A graduate of Columbia University and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, Lehrer has worked in the lab of Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel. He has written for the New Yorker, Boston Globe, Washington Post, NPR and New Scientist, and writes a highly regarded blog, The Frontal Cortex.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Canongate Books Ltd; Main edition (19 April 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 279 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 184767786X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1847677860
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.1 x 2.7 x 22 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 516,435 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 4,990 in Cognition & Cognitive Psychology
- 15,445 in Higher Education of Biological Sciences
- 25,691 in Popular Science

Customer reviews:
4.2 269 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Jonah Lehrer

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Jonah Lehrer is the author of A Book About Love, Imagine, How We Decide and Proust Was a Neuroscientist. He graduated from Columbia University and studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He's written for The New Yorker, Nature, The New York Times Magazine and many other publications.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

269 global ratings

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Nick

Tries too hard

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 15 July 2012

Verified Purchase

Disapointing read after having read all of Lehrers previous books. Fails to deliver. Creativity (as a professional photographer clients include :Cosmopolitan and Menshealth) is a very personal thing. I get inspired by movies, books, the combination of those. Heck, even certain lighting inspires me, music anything really. This book supposes that allot of creativity comes from places, people, and well things extroverts enjoy the most. I do not need a open floorplan to get the "best" creative ideas. Im sure that rembrand, Picasso, Plato, Lao tsu, Chuang tsu, Miyamoto musashi, Darwin, All got their best ideas in perfect solitude or well their introverted selves.

Anyway throughout this book i tried to think up of the one thing that made this book so, well lack luster.

At the end of the book i read the following sentence which basically tells me all i needed to know.

"Nevertheless, this sense of magic shouldn`t prevent us from trying to become more creative."

Now what in gods name is that even supposed to mean? Am i supposed to be afraid of my own creative magic, sense of wonder? Embodiment of the word anomaly, is what i make of it.

I have been extremely disapointed in this book and all of its nonsensical conclusions.

Falls short compared to previous works.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

BrianB

An interesting book. Easy to understand.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 22 May 2012

Verified Purchase

This book is interesting because it gives results of activities in companies actually doing research for new products. I find generally that psychological evidence from sources such as this are more appropriate to practical,normal, life than that that from those dealing with sick or disturbed people, or dream interpretation. The book is relatively short because it focuses on giving evidence for just a few basic principles. Having read it I will not need to refer to it again, but will pass it on to someone else in the family. It is interesting and simple enough to follow for anyone with no knowledge of Psychology.

If you find this interesting you will also be interested in the older books by Edward de Bono concerned with "Lateral Thinking".

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 20 May 2012

Verified Purchase

This is one of the questions I repeatedly ask myself and this book helps answer it. Not only, what makes you tick, but how you get to that point and where to go from there. I found this very interesting, very easy to read and feel I have learnt a lot from it about myself and dealing with others in general.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 20 May 2012

Verified Purchase

First impressions of the book: superb hard cover quality, elegant look, very inviting. On reading, mainly through stories and case studies, I found the text engaging and easy to follow. I agree with previous reviewers though: the text is not very challenging, especially for someone who might be interested in creativity from a more scientific perspective.

Helpful

Chris

Interesting and thoughtful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 19 September 2012

Verified Purchase

As before Lehrer writes about complex issues in ways that are easy for the lay person to follow. For me though it reads like all the evidence is selected to point in one direction, it just doesn't feel like a balanced view of the subject, even if it is.

Helpful

Dona Mackereth

Book almost as good as promised

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 28 January 2018

Verified Purchase

Very efficient service. Book almost as good as promised!

Helpful

Lauren

Great book for any creative at any level

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 20 March 2018

Verified Purchase

Great book for any creative at any level. It also applies to all aspects of life and dives into the lives of some of the world's most creative minds!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 28 July 2013

Verified Purchase

Makes one realise that often the way we structure organisations and manage ourselves excludes rather than encourages creativity! Excellent read!

Helpful

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	AbeBooks Books, art & collectables	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Download Audiobooks	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	DPReview Digital Photography	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations

Amazon Home Services Experienced pros Happiness Guarantee	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands

Amazon Warehouse Deep Discounts Open-Box Products	Amazon Business Service for business customers	Whole Foods Market We Believe in Real Food

Follow the author

Imagine: How Creativity Works Hardcover – 19 April 2012

Customers who bought this item also bought

Product description

Review

About the Author

Product details

About the author

Jonah Lehrer

Customer reviews

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.