Approaches to creativity and discovery

Should we take creativity seriously at a time of global financial and environmental crises? Not if we want to find solutions, argues Professor Julian Evans (UCL Chemistry). In an article based on the Presidential Lecture to the Chemical and Physical Society first published in Sophia , he proposes that there is an intimate connection between laughter and creativity. Is he serious? Where do good ideas come from? There is precious little in the curriculum about observation, creativity and discovery, which seems odd given their importance in the history of ideas. Science is presented as pictures at an exhibition after the studio is tidied; as a pristine building after the construction site is cleared; as a series of pure, clean, creative acts. We see the product but not the process. To find out what we've missed, let's break into the building site! - On the difference between looking and seeing. Most philosophers of science agree that all observations are theory-laden: students can sometimes only make observations in laboratory classes if they already know the relevant theory; something stops them seeing what is there.