Abstract
The problem of creativity has always been a challenging topic for scientific research since it does not lend itself easily to quantitative or qualitative characterization. Nevertheless, Gardner tries to characterize creativity and his "focus takes the form of a search for patterns C for revealing similarities and for instructive differences" (p. 7). The framework is characterized by three components: a creator, a project, and others. All creativity results from ties between an individual and a project on the one hand, and between the individual and others on the other. To discover some patterns in discoveries, Gardner uses biographies of seven creative minds representing very diverse disciplines: Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Martha Graham, and Gandhi. In his analyses, Gardner attempts to draw on two approaches to the phenomenon of creativity: Gruber's "evolving system approach" in which evolution of certain systems is simultaneously traced, and Simonton's historiometric approach. What is interesting in Gardner's specification of creativity is an emphasis of the fact that personal creativity is not sufficient to be a creator; the work has to be accepted, i.e., filtered through "a judgment of a competent field" (p. 40), in order to be considered creative.