Innovation Generation: How to Produce Creative and Useful Scientific Ideas

"Innovation, defined as creativity with a purpose, is widely considered to be the engine of scientific progress," writes Ness, Dean of the University of Texas School of Public Health. With this book, Ness hopes to explain both the "frames" that keep creative thinking from happening, and the rigorous, engaging methods that can be used to break out of those frames. There's nothing here that's remarkably innovative%E2%80%94Ness directly references Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point and Blink%E2%80%94but her ideas about creating new ways of thinking are accessibly explained and inspiring, including chapters on group intelligence and overcoming bias. A section on the "Stodginess of Science" will be of particular interest to the scientifically minded who feel frustrated with the slow pace of innovation within the field. Ness explains the reasons behind the reticence, and offers means to overcome it. While her writing is focused on scientific innovation, there's enough here that's applicable to other fields to make it worth a read for anyone interested in breaking out of their habitual mindset and cultivating innovative thinking. Illus. (Mar.)