Overview
What drives the artist to create masterpieces and the scientist to forge breakthrough theories? This is the fundamental question that British psychiatrist Anthony Storr sets out to answer in The Dynamics of Creation.Storr begins by debunking the popular notion that creative people are necessarily motivated by neurosis. Although creativity can spring from a desire for power, wealth, prestige, or sexual conquest, at its deepest level it is an integrative impulse that both nourishes and consoles the human soul. In probing the origins and the consequences of creativity, Storr paints brief, stunningly insightful portraits of an astonishing range of gifted individuals, including Leonardo da Vinci, Darwin, Mozart, Einstein, Kafka, Newton, Balzac, and Wagner. A brilliant synthesis of psychology, biography, cultural analysis, and artistic appreciation.
"Rich and rewarding . . . Full of wise and humane understanding." The Economist
What drives the artist to create masterpieces and the scientist to forge breakthrough theories? Is it neurosis? Does it spring from more basic desires--for power, wealth, or sexual conquest? Or are its origins more profound--and positive? Psychiatrist and bestselling author Storr tackles these questions and offers portraits of such geniuses as da Vinci, Mozart, Einstein, Newton, and Darwin.
Synopsis
What drives the artist to create masterpieces and the scientist to forge breakthrough theories? This is the fundamental question that British psychiatrist Anthony Storr sets out to answer in The Dynamics of Creation.
Storr begins by debunking the popular notion that creative people are necessarily motivated by neurosis. Although creativity can spring from a desire for power, wealth, prestige, or sexual conquest, at its deepest level it is an integrative impulse that both nourishes and consoles the human soul. In probing the origins and the consequences of creativity, Storr paints brief, stunningly insightful portraits of an astonishing range of gifted individuals, including Leonardo da Vinci, Darwin, Mozart, Einstein, Kafka, Newton, Balzac, and Wagner. A brilliant synthesis of psychology, biography, cultural analysis, and artistic appreciation.
"Rich and rewarding . . . Full of wise and humane understanding." The Economist