Exploring the Renaissance from a cognitive perspective, this book sheds light on the Renaissance as a cognitive and creative phenomenon providing researchers and postgraduate students of cognitive history with a new case study on which to apply their tools and the apparatus to do so. This book views the Italian Renaissance not only in the realms of art, architecture, and literature but also in the physical sciences, medicine, craft technology, engineering, and self-discovery. Allowing researchers and postgraduate students to see how viewing the renaissance as a creative phenomenon, through a cognitive approach, can broaden their understanding of the Renaissance period.

Exploring the Renaissance from a cognitive perspective, this book sheds light on the Renaissance as a cognitive and creative phenomenon providing researchers and postgraduate students of cognitive history with a new case study on which to apply their tools and the apparatus to do so. This book views the Italian Renaissance not only in the realms of art, architecture, and literature but also in the physical sciences, medicine, craft technology, engineering, and self-discovery. Allowing researchers and postgraduate students to see how viewing the renaissance as a creative phenomenon, through a cognitive approach, can broaden their understanding of the Renaissance period.

Creativity is a topic that has traditionally interested psychologists, historians, and biographers. In recent years, developments in cognitive science and artificial intelligence have provided a powerful computational framework in which creativity can be studied and the creative process can be described and explained. In this book, creativity in technology is discussed within such a computational framework. Using an important historical episode in computer technology as a case study, namely, the invention of microprogramming by Maurice Wilkes in 1951, the author presents a plausible explanation of the process by which Wilkes may have arrived at his invention. Based on this case study, the author has also proposed some very general hypotheses concerning creativity that appear to corroborate the findings of some psychologists and historians and then suggests that creative thinking is not significantly different in nature from everyday thinking and reasoning. This book should be of interest to all those interested in creativity, including cognitive scientists, historians and philosophers of science, historians and philosophers of technology, and artificial intelligence researchers. It should also appeal to the general reader.

At the heart of creativity is the practice of bringing something new into existence, whether it be a material object or abstract idea, thereby making history and enriching the creative tradition. A Cognitive Historical Approach to Creativity explores the idea that creativity is both a cognitive phenomenon and a historical process. Blending insights and theories of cognitive science with the skills, mentality and investigative tools of the historian, this book considers diverse issues including: the role of the unconscious in creativity, the creative process, creating history with a new object or idea, and the relationship between creators and consumers. Drawing on a plethora of real-life examples from the eighteenth century through to the present day, and from distinct fields including the arts, literature, science and engineering, Subrata Dasgupta emphasizes historicity as a fundamental feature of creativity. Providing a unified, integrative, interdisciplinary treatment of cognitive history and its application to understanding and explaining creativity in its multiple domains, A Cognitive Historical Approach to Creativity is essential reading for all researchers of creativity.

The logic and methodology of design is examined in this book from the perspective of computer science. Computers provide the context for this examination both by discussion of the design process for hardware and software systems and by consideration of the role of computers in design in general. The central question posed by the author is whether or not we can construct a theory of design. This book concentrates upon the relationship between design, mathematics and science and thus its audience must include designers and software designers as well as computer scientists.

Creativity is a topic that has traditionally interested psychologists, historians, and biographers. In recent years, developments in cognitive science and artificial intelligence have provided a powerful computational framework in which creativity can be studied and the creative process can be described and explained. In this book, creativity in technology is discussed within such a computational framework. Using an important historical episode in computer technology as a case study, namely, the invention of microprogramming by Maurice Wilkes in 1951, the author presents a plausible explanation of the process by which Wilkes may have arrived at his invention. Based on this case study, the author has also proposed some very general hypotheses concerning creativity that appear to corroborate the findings of some psychologists and historians and then suggests that creative thinking is not significantly different in nature from everyday thinking and reasoning. This book should be of interest to all those interested in creativity, including cognitive scientists, historians and philosophers of science, historians and philosophers of technology, and artificial intelligence researchers. It should also appeal to the general reader.

The logic and methodology of design is examined in this book from the perspective of computer science. Computers provide the context for this examination both by discussion of the design process for hardware and software systems and by consideration of the role of computers in design in general. The central question posed by the author is whether or not we can construct a theory of design. This book concentrates upon the relationship between design, mathematics and science and thus its audience must include designers and software designers as well as computer scientists.

At the heart of creativity is the practice of bringing something new into existence, whether it be a material object or abstract idea, thereby making history and enriching the creative tradition. A Cognitive Historical Approach to Creativity explores the idea that creativity is both a cognitive phenomenon and a historical process. Blending insights and theories of cognitive science with the skills, mentality and investigative tools of the historian, this book considers diverse issues including: the role of the unconscious in creativity, the creative process, creating history with a new object or idea, and the relationship between creators and consumers. Drawing on a plethora of real-life examples from the eighteenth century through to the present day, and from distinct fields including the arts, literature, science and engineering, Subrata Dasgupta emphasizes historicity as a fundamental feature of creativity. Providing a unified, integrative, interdisciplinary treatment of cognitive history and its application to understanding and explaining creativity in its multiple domains, A Cognitive Historical Approach to Creativity is essential reading for all researchers of creativity.

Over the past sixty years, the spectacular growth of the technologies associated with the computer is visible for all to see and experience. Yet, the science underpinning this technology is less visible and little understood outside the professional computer science community. As a scientific discipline, computer science stands alongside the likes of molecular biology and cognitive science as one of the most significant new sciences of the post Second World War era. In this Very Short Introduction, Subrata Dasgupta sheds light on these lesser known areas and considers the conceptual basis of computer science. Discussing algorithms, programming, and sequential and parallel processing, he considers emerging modern ideas such as biological computing and cognitive modelling, challenging the idea of computer science as a science of the artificial. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Creativity- a quality which each and every individual wants to acquire in order to be different from others. There is an intense desire within humans to do things innovatively so that they "stand out in a crowd." But possessing this quality does not only involve practice or deep-thinking. It demands more than what we actually think it requires to be creative. One such important factor in the context of creativity is Parent-Adolescent Relationship. All of us know that child rearing practice is very important for the healthy development of an adolescent but it also helps in the development of creativity. The way in which an adolescent is treated during the dynamic years of development leaves a strong impact on the minds which shapes her personality and innate abilities. Therefore, this book deals with varied aspects of relationships and how those affect creativity. The analysis done in the book will help shed some light on the correct ways of dealing with an adolescent and so, the book will be especially useful to parents and anyone else who may be interested to know about the complexities of relationship and its effect on creativity.

As a field, computer science occupies a unique scientific space, in that its subject matter can exist in both physical and abstract realms. An artifact such as software is both tangible and not, and must be classified as something in between, or "liminal." The study and production of liminal artifacts allows for creative possibilities that are, and have been, possible only in computer science. In It Began With Babbage, Subrata Dasgupta examines the unique history of computer science in terms of its creative innovations, spanning back to Charles Babbage in 1819. Since all artifacts of computer science are conceived with a use in mind, the computer scientist is not concerned with the natural laws that govern disciplines like physics or chemistry; the computer scientist is more concerned with the concept of purpose. This requirement lends itself to a type of creative thinking that, as Dasgupta shows us, has exhibited itself throughout the history of computer science. From Babbage's Difference Engine, through the Second World War, to the establishment of the term "Computer Science" in 1956, It Began With Babbage traces a lively and complete history of computer science.