Explaining Creativity is an accessible introduction to the latest scientific research on creativity. In the last 50 years, psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists have increasingly studied creativity, and we now know more about creativity than at any point in history. It considers not only arts like painting and writing, but also science, stage performance, and business innovation. Until about a decade ago, creativity researchers tended to focus on highly valued activities like fine art painting and Nobel prize winning science. Sawyer brings this research up to date by including movies, music videos, cartoons, video games, hypertext fiction, and computer technology. For example, this is the first book on creativity to include studies of performance and improvisation. Sawyer draws on the latest research findings to show the importance of collaboration and context in all of these creative activities.Today's science of creativity is interdisciplinary; in addition to psychological studies of creativity the book includes research by anthropologists on creativity in non-Western cultures, and research by sociologists about the situation, contexts, and networks of creative activity. It brings these approaches together within the sociocultural approach to creativity pioneered by Howard Becker, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Howard Gardner. The sociocultural approach moves beyond the individual to consider the social and cultural contexts of creativity, emphasizing the role of collaboration and context in the creative process.

R. KEITH SAWYER，美国华盛顿大学圣路易斯分校的心理学、教育学和商学教授，是研究创造性的世界顶尖科学家之一。他将科学知识与现实世界有关创造性的强有力的经验背景联系到了一起。1982年从麻省理工学院获得计算机科学学位后，他在雅达利公司开始了为期两年的视频游戏的阶段设计工作。1984年至1990年，他从事与技术创新有关的咨询工作，客户包括花旗银行、 AT&T等。 1990年，Sawyer博士开始攻读心理学博士学位，并与 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi博士一起研究创造性。Sawyer博士还是一位拥有20多年演奏经验的爵士乐钢琴家，曾与芝加哥即兴表演剧团一起演出了好几年。他经常出现在美国一些主流媒体中，例如 CNN、CNBC、《时代》等。