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，美國華盛頓大學聖路易斯分校的心理學、教育學和商學教授，是研究創造性的世界頂尖科學傢之一。他將科學知識與現實世界有關創造性的強有力的經驗背景聯係到瞭一起。1982年從麻省理工學院獲得計算機科學學位後，他在雅達利公司開始瞭為期兩年的視頻遊戲的階段設計工作。1984年至1990年，他從事與技術創新有關的谘詢工作，客戶包括花旗銀行、 AT&T等。 1990年，Sawyer博士開始攻讀心理學博士學位，並與 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi博士一起研究創造性。Sawyer博士還是一位擁有20多年演奏經驗的爵士樂鋼琴傢，曾與芝加哥即興錶演劇團一起演齣瞭好幾年。他經常齣現在美國一些主流媒體中，例如 CNN、CNBC、《時代》等。