The Eureka Effect: The Art and Logic of Breakthrough Thinking

This book was uncatalogued in my library until now.

Well written, thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining.

Makes one think about thinking, and helps solve problems by helping one understand the psychological traps behind the problems.

From Archimedes' discovery of the principle of water displacement while taking a bath to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, from Brunelleschi's development of perspective drawing to the Impressionist revolution, from the taming of fire to the creation of the laser, "breakthrough thinking"—that is, a sudden, seemingly unaccountable moment of inspiration—has shaped and advanced civilization. But Nature invents, too—through evolutionary watersheds like vertebrate mammals and formerly grounded creatures making the leap to flight. How, then, does breakthrough thinking really work? What, if anything, does human invention have in common with biological evolution? Drawing on a rich knowledge of artificial intelligence and cognitive show more psychology, David Perkins offers a uniquely integrative theory of how breakthroughs occur, along with dozens of delightful mind puzzles and illustrations that will have you quizzing whomever happens to be nearest. B/W line drawings. Published in hardcover as Archimedes' Bathtub. show less

Full book note at: http://www.shearonforschools.com/archimedes.htm

The author suggests that “breakthrough thinking” isnot really a different type of thinking. There’s no unique mental mechanism that kicks in. Rather, there are types of problems which require some different mental approaches because they are “unreasonable”, they cannot be solved solely by the application of reason. He deems these “ Klondike problems” because of the similarities they share with the problems faced by gold prospectors in the Klondike gold rush:

Wilderness of possibilities – a large solution space

Clueless plateau – with few clues

Narrow canyons – that tend to trap the search process in a solutionless area

Oases of false promise – where show more the measure of promise is high, but that do not contain a solution.

The structure of these problems creates a distinctive problem solving experience involving a long search, little apparent progress, a precipating event, and a “cognitive snap.” show less

Very interesting reading, I enjoyed the practices in the book.