Origins of Genius: Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity

How can we account for the sudden appearance of such dazzling artists and scientists as Mozart, Shakespeare, Darwin, or Einstein? How can we define such genius? What conditions or personality traits seem to produce exceptionally creative people? Is the association between genius and madness really just a myth? These and many other questions are brilliantly illuminated in The Origins of Genius.

Dean Simonton convincingly argues that creativity can best be understood as a Darwinian process of va…