Pixar’s animation studio, Bob Dylan’s songwriting, and the drug habits of poets all go under the microscope in American science journalist Jonah Lehrer’s latest book, Imagine: The Science of Creativity (Penguin, $32 cl., April). Like his other non-fiction titles, Proust Was a Neuroscientist and How We Decide, Lehrer’s new book presents a lighthearted look at psychology and neuroscience for the layperson, this time targeting one of the human brain’s most nebulous but highly valued characteristics. Drawing on interviews, scientific studies, and real-life examples, the book addresses questions both quirky (Does the colour of a room affect creativity?) and pragmatic (How can imagination be cultivated?). Lehrer’s analysis presents creativity not as a rare gift, but as an impulse hard-wired into every human mind, waiting to be harnessed.
