Thinking Like Einstein: Returning to Our Visual Roots with the Emerging Revolution in Computer Information Visualisation

by Thomas G. West

Albert Einstein once said that all of his most important and productive thinking was done by playing with images in his imagination. Only in a secondary stage did he translate - with great effort, he says - these images into the language of words and mathematics that could be understood by others.According to Thomas G. West, Einstein was a classic example of a strong visual thinker, a person who tends to think in images and visual patterns, and sometimes has difficulty with words and numbers. In his awarding-winning book, In the Mind''s Eye, West discussed the connections between highly talented, visually oriented persons like Einstein and certain learning disabilities such as dyslexia. Now, in Thinking Like Einstein, West investigates the new worlds of visual thinking, insight, and creativity made possible by computer graphics and information visualization technologies. He argues that, with the rapid spread of inexpensive and powerful computers, we are now at the beginning of a major transition, moving from an old world based mainly on words and numbers to a new world where high level work in all fields will eventually involve insights based on the display and manipulation of complex information using moving computer images.West profiles several highly creative visual thinkers, such as James Clerk Maxwell, Nikola Tesla, and Richard Feynman, pointing out that there is a long history of using visualization rather than words or numbers to solve problems. Citing the longstanding historical conflicts between image lovers and image haters, West examines the relationship of art, scientific knowledge, and differences in brain capabilities - observing how modern visual thinkers with visualization technologies seem to have learned how to cut through the problems of overspecialization in academia and in the workplace.West predicts that computer visualization technology will radically change the way we all work and think. For thousands of years the technology of writing and reading has tended to promote the dominance of the left hemisphere of the brain, with its linear processing of words and numbers. Now the spread of graphical computer technologies is permitting a return to our visual roots with a new balance between hemispheres and ways of thinking - presenting new opportunities for problem solving and big picture thinking. Thus, he argues that the newest technologies will help us to reaffirm some of our oldest capabilities, allowing us to see previously unseen patterns and to restore a balance in thought and action.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

222 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2004

Reviews

[Julio Bonilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best intentions can sometimes yield horrifying results.

[David Mansfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazon's recommendations are getting more valuable. I would not have picked this book for myself, but I really enjoyed it. It was incredibly educational in that it helped connect a bunch of "dots." and it provided some good context for some amorphous thoughts.

It provides very good insight on how innovative thinking can be compared / contrasted to more traditional ways of thinking, especially as it releates problem solving. Throughout the book visual thinking is related to the logic of geometry while "traditional" thinking is related to algebra and statistics. It provides a great balance between left and right brain thinking.

What I wasn't looking for was now computing power is driving visualization - both graphical and graphic (like SketchUp / Second Life) and how both will be important in communicating complex thoughts.

[Hr Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important book for anyone that would like to understand that portion of our population that thinks in pictures. Details the contributions that visual thinkers and visual technologies are making to our world.

[Ida · Rating 4 out of 5]

My blog post on this book: http://idaimages.wordpress.com/2008/0...

[Sheshank Joshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a personally interesting and tremendous book. I always had so much info and curiosity in my brain and exposed myself to diverse subjects, in-depth studies, but always seem to not come up with brilliant ideas. I knew how great people took inspiration from little things they faced, heard or experienced. I always wondered, why can't I do the same. Why can't I come up with ideas from my curiosities, studies and experiences when I have all the curiosity in the world. This book clearly guided me on how to generate ideas, create new ways of thinking and generating conditions that would alter the existing ideas, and come up with new ones.
Read it on Audible, and had it in one continuous go of some 8 hours on fine sunday. I am so fortunate to have come across the book.
Don't let the title fool you. Its not just an exploration of how Einstein thought, but how generally great problem solvers think. In fact the idea of thought experiment hasn't even been explored sufficiently enough in this book as a justification for its title. But, that's fine.
A Personal note of thank you to the author for this wonderful book and the brilliant reader who read it on the tape. Thank you.