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Rating: 
Summary: some good information
Review: 13 methods of creativity. Each given a brief intro and then, yes, into examples. But unless you feel you intuitively know what 'abstracting' is then I can only see that the examples add much needed depth to what would otherwise be a pretty flimsy coverage.
This is not the kind of book that has 'creativity tools' as such (eg., Michalko) But this is more aligned with the thought processes in general that lead to the flow of creative thought. I found the first 4-5 of particular interest but must admit that by the second half of the book some of the ideas and thought skills were a little obvious.
3.5 stars
Rating: 
Summary: Good treatment of limited objective
Review: I like Simonton's book on the origins of genius and the Sternberg handbook on creativity. I keep wondering why they do not cite this work and vice versa. Other reviewers have listed the 13 types of thought presented. So, we have a chapter on a type of thought--what do we put in the chapter about the type of thought? It turns out we put lots and lots of examples of that type of thought being done by creative people of various sorts--scientists, artists, social leaders, and a few others. So we get a name of a type of thought and a paragraph explaining what it is followed by zillions of examples. This would in my mind make a nice 20 page book. At 200plus pages it is a bit of a windbag book. The earlier Root-Bernstein book, Discovery, was much more densely written with good ideas on every one or two pages. That was a really good deal--this follow up is a bit, frothy for my taste. I like meat!
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant; Outstanding; Better than 5-star book
Review: It is such a pleasure to write a review of a book of this caliber. I don't have to balance what is good with what is not so good, because "Sparks of Genius" is an excellent, superb book, from start to finish. I would have only one small addition to one of the chapters, which I will mention below. I think that "Sparks of Genius" is the first book I have ever read on the subject of how to develop genius, but I cannot imagine a better complilation of what it takes to foster and inspire genius and creativity in people. The main reason for this is that the authors base their material on how creative people in the arts, sciences, etc., acquire and develop their skills, and every chapter except the last one (appropriately) are full of firsthand examples from people of genius and creativity in (almost!) all walks of life. Yet the authors themselves exhibit their own kind of genius in organizing the material, writing chapter after chapter with genuine vision and clarity, and most importantly, after intellectually explaining "sparks" such as observing, imaging, analyzing, and empathizing, give specific, generally uncomplicated, exercises on how to develop these skills. Throughout the book the authors demonstrate that people in very diverse walks of life exhibit the same "sparks of genius" in their work, which I find quite inspiring in itself. In this way they themselves exemplify the value of "synthesis," perhaps the key that links all the methods they depict. The book is a call to "rethink thinking," to teach cross-discipline learning, and I feel that the methods discussed in the book, and then discussed specifically in the context of education in the final chapter, would be invaluable as educational tools. I believe that if children's education could be fostered along the lines of these tools of creative genius, if children could be taught to use their own internal resources instead of relying on the obvious external garbage such as TV and video games, the improvement to society would be tremendous. My favorite chapter in the book is called "Empathizing," where the authors discuss what artists and scientists do to go inside of whomever or whatever they are portraying (actors), drawing (artists), treating (physicians), as well as other real-life examples. My only small addition to "Sparks of Genius" would be in the penultimate chapter, called "Synthesizing," some mention of the "gestalt" in experiencing the whole in music, art, etc. I liked this term from personal experience and from books on gestalt therapy that came out some time ago, and it's a very intuitive concept that fits in well with the chapter's discussion. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!
Rating: 
Summary: Comprehensive and insightful
Review: Sparks of Genius is an excellent analysis of the variety of different types of "tools" or techniques that innovators and creators use. I agree with many of the other reviewers that the authors provide copious examples. For some, this was overdoing it, but for myself, the examples were well selected and properly used to illustrate the tools at issue. I never felt bored or annoyed by them. Unlike some reviewers, I felt that the authors did provide a solid theoretical or conceptual framework, and not merely a laundry list of examples. Indeed, I was particularly impressed by their identification and explanation of the reasons behind the deep linkages between artistic and scientific endeavors, and by the interesting explorations of the interplay of artistic and scientific discovery in many noted thinkers. Science education in general would be much more interesting to the average student if standard textbooks fleshed out the often artistic interests of the great scientists as well as the Root-Bernsteins. I would take the Root-Bernsteins to task however, for the rather prosaic presentation of their material. In particular, its a shame for them to so heavily emaphasize visualization and multimodal representation, and to cite the work of Edward Tufte, and then present such a conventionally design book of text and relatively limited and often poorly placed figures, oddly located "appendices" etc. The illustrations, layouot, typesetting, and overall design should have itself been reflective of their subject matter. Perhaps a second edition would rectify this oversight. Finally, I note that they could have better "rationalized" or categorized the various "tools" they identify, and thereby perhaps shortened the book. For example, Body Thinking is really just another type of Imagining, that is imaging with the body. These captures could have been combined. Overall, an excellent, enjoyable read. Most non-fiction works like this take me weeks to read. This one I literally could not put down. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and insightful
Review: Sparks of Genius is an excellent analysis of the variety of different types of "tools" or techniques that innovators and creators use. I agree with many of the other reviewers that the authors provide copious examples. For some, this was overdoing it, but for myself, the examples were well selected and properly used to illustrate the tools at issue. I never felt bored or annoyed by them. Unlike some reviewers, I felt that the authors did provide a solid theoretical or conceptual framework, and not merely a laundry list of examples. Indeed, I was particularly impressed by their identification and explanation of the reasons behind the deep linkages between artistic and scientific endeavors, and by the interesting explorations of the interplay of artistic and scientific discovery in many noted thinkers. Science education in general would be much more interesting to the average student if standard textbooks fleshed out the often artistic interests of the great scientists as well as the Root-Bernsteins. I would take the Root-Bernsteins to task however, for the rather prosaic presentation of their material. In particular, its a shame for them to so heavily emaphasize visualization and multimodal representation, and to cite the work of Edward Tufte, and then present such a conventionally design book of text and relatively limited and often poorly placed figures, oddly located "appendices" etc. The illustrations, layouot, typesetting, and overall design should have itself been reflective of their subject matter. Perhaps a second edition would rectify this oversight. Finally, I note that they could have better "rationalized" or categorized the various "tools" they identify, and thereby perhaps shortened the book. For example, Body Thinking is really just another type of Imagining, that is imaging with the body. These captures could have been combined. Overall, an excellent, enjoyable read. Most non-fiction works like this take me weeks to read. This one I literally could not put down. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein's Sparks of Genius
Review: The review by Kirkus Associates is excellent, and many of the other reviews are very good. The 13 thinking tools of the world's most creative people, according to the authors, are abstracting, analogizing, body thinking (body images), dimensional thinking, empathizing (feeling empathy with objects, processes, others), forming patterns, imaging (thinking of things by using mental images of them, whether realistic or "distorted"), modeling, observing, playing, recognizing patterns, synthesizing (combining, etc.), transforming. The study of genius as an "extreme" of knowledge discovery is long past its due in education from elementary through university, and has many clues for improving education. Geniuses not only cross fields from science through art, but tend to be interdisciplinary, appear to be well grounded both in basics and intuition/thinking/mental processes, and use imagery (by the way, using imagery is taught by a number of cognitive psychologists and psychoanalysts for mental health as well). Robert Bernstein's physiology background helps him unlock some of the physiological processes of genius, and Michele's historical background helps trace back the characteristics of pre-modern geniuses. There is probably much more to the story, but this book is an excellent start.
Rating:
Summary: sparks make fire
Review: This book is a must for anyone interested in art or science or having their kids do either one or both. In contast to claims that art and science are two separate antithetical ways of approaching the world, this book makes it abundenly clear that they are, at base, the same. Einstein said that "Imagination is more important than information." and in that he was right. This book clearly demonstrates the importance of, and the mechanims for, creative thinking in both fields and their linkage. The Root-Bernsteins have done a terrific job and are to be commended. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Informative and Lacks Inspiration
Review: This is not a how-to-book. The Root-Bernsteins present thirteen characteristics of what they view as genius. With each chapter they list examples from art, literature, and a variety of other disciplines. I have never encountered references to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Bruno Schulz within two pages of each other. The book lacks enthusiasm. Someone like Desmond Morris or Steven Pinker could of made this material really compelling. Still this book is more insightful than one that encourages someone to visualize certain object to make you an Einstein.
Rating: 
Summary: weak
Review: To me, it seemed like the authors did not write from personal experience. It seemed more like a research project. It reads like a textbook, very impersonal, almost aloof. Nothing wrong with that. I was hoping for a little more, like insight from someone who has been there.
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