Creativity, Imagination and Innovation : Perspectives and Inspirational Stories

"All power to the imagination" is a famous slogan. This book confirms it is much more than just a slogan, showing how imagination can, in no uncertain way, be a reality. Some 40 outstanding personalities share their insights on their relationship with imagination in their respective fields of study. An astronaut, a philosopher, an environmental activist, a mathematician, an anthropologist, an actor, an astrophysicist, and even a singer — all share how they managed to unlock the power of their imagination to achieve extra-ordinary things.

This book is the collective work of men and women from wide-ranging backgrounds, each of whom has contributed to the advancement of our society, making this world more beautiful, just and humane through the power of their imagination. This is the first time an anthology has brought together the thoughts of such prestigious and world-renowned personalities. Through these unique, disruptive, powerful, energizing, often touching, and always very personal testimonies, this book seeks to offer inspiration for each and all of us, so that we too, can find the path to our own imagination.

Whether French, Chinese, English, Swiss, Canadian, American, Irish, Belgian, Danish, Algerian or Singaporean, these 40 thought-leaders share their vision of imagination through their personal journey and experience. They do not try to show us the path we must take, but rather invite us to follow our own. The diversity of the backgrounds and expertise of these world-renowned experts is what gives this mosaic of inspirational texts its rich meaning, a diversity which serves to underline what all these journeys and experiences have in common: how essential imagination is in building the society of tomorrow.

This anthology is edited by Xavier PAVIE, Professor at ESSEC Business School, Director of the iMagination Center, and Research Associate at the Research Institute in Philosophy of the University of Paris Nanterre (IREPH).

Contents:

• Introduction: The Taste for Imagining One's Life
• Acknowledgments
• The Origins of the Universe (Yves Coppens)
• How Imagination can Shape the World (Etienne Klein)
• My Life as a Mathematician (Cédric Villani)
• Inspiration: Creativity and Context (Mike Wood)
• Interculturality and Transdisciplinarity (Alvin Than)
• Engaging Our Intelligence to Save Life on Earth (Hubert Reeves)
• The Yearbook Project (Nathalie Joffre)
• Biology, Ethics and Complexity (Henri Atlan)
• Theories of Evolution and the Mechanisms of Adaptation (Pascal Picq)
• Squatting and "Artivism" (Gaspard Delanoë)
• Conversations with a Punk (Didier Wampas)
• Shaping Imagination (Marie-Paule Cani)
• The Knowledge Economy: A Second Renaissance (Idriss Aberkane)
• Molar (Patrick Roger)
• Hearing Colors: My Life Experience as a Cyborg (Neil Harbisson)
• Creating is about being Generous (Christine Ferber)
• From the Vosges Forests to Starred Dreams (Jacques Genin)
• My Imagination Gives Me Wings (Kathrine Larsen)
• Chocolate (Pierre Marcolini)
• Art and Identity (Alan Chong)
• To Lead One's Life, an Act of Creation (Eric Michel)
• Conversation with an Inspired, Committed and Free Man (Michael Lonsdale)
• Giving One's Life a Meaning and Becoming One's Self (Nicolas Huchet)
• Meditation: Focusing on the Now (Fabrice Midal)
• The World Below Everest (Yip Yew Chong)
• Humanoid: Man vs Robots (Nadine Thalmann)
• Seeing with our Mind's Eye (Bridget Polk)
• Welcome to Space (Jean-Loup Chrétien)
• Work: Always Sought-After, Often Endured (Dominique Méda)
• Leading Your Work and Your Life (Desmond Kuek)
• CRImagine (François Taddei)
• Global Warming at the Heart of our Development — From the Polar Regions to Public Life (Jean Jouzel)
• Follow Your Dreams, Even when the Going Gets Tough! (Jean-Louis Etienne)
• The Age of the Hummingbirds (Pierre Rabhi)
• A Chemist Cooking, Imagination Brought to the Kitchen Introducing Note-By-Note Cuisine: The Importance of Language for Imagination (Hervé This)
• Combining Life and Technology to Postpone Death: How Far are we Prepared to go? (Laurent Alexandre)
• Genomics and its Impact (Liu)
• In What World will We Be Living in 2030? (Joël de Rosnay)
• Upgrading Imagination (Kevin Warwick)
• The Disillusionment of Science (Jacques Testart)

Readership: Business professionals, managers involved in innovation and creativity, innovators, students and academics in business schools, and general public interested in innovation and creativity.
Creativity;Innovation;Imagination;Aesthetics;Transdisciplinarity;Lateral Thinking;Testimonials;Inspiration;Intelligence;Knowledge Economy;Disruption;Dreams;Future0Key Features:

• A unique group of international experts in their respective fields
• A demonstration of the importance of creativity and transdisciplinarity to generate new disruptive ideas
• Unique, exclusive and inspiring testimonials for creative people as well as for leaders, students and curious people