• DOI:10.1038/430615A
• Corpus ID: 4419912

Into the unknown

@article{Buchwald2004IntoTU,
  title={Into the unknown},
  author={Diana Kormos Buchwald},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2004},
  volume={430},
  pages={615-615}
}

• D. Buchwald
• Published 4 August 2004
• Psychology
• Nature

ure. We have recently learned much about Einstein’s illegitimate daughter, his turbulent divorce from his first wife,his extramarital affairs and his inclination not to quote predecessors in scientific papers. A similar treatment was apportioned to Freud in the 1970s. There were many scholarly, as well as journalistic, exposés of Freud’s vanity, his competitiveness, his ruthless handling of colleagues, and, most famously, his views on the centrality of fantasy and invention in the sexual-abuse reports of his women patients. Fortunately, Panek is, if anything, trying to bring some perspective and factual background to the principal achievements of Freud and Einstein, sparing us the moralizing rod. He insists on, and demonstrates, the complexity of reconciling theoretical, mathematical and psychological hypotheses and theories with empirical observations, a profound tenet of both scientists’ methodology and creative work. Both were trained at a time of exhilarating new discoveries in physics, astronomy, medicine and neurology. Both concentrated their efforts on reconceptualizing topics and structures that seemed well explored at the time. And both succeeded in making substantial progress, not by merely seeking answers to unsolved problems, but by asking new questions of old or overlooked material. Why do we routinely misplace keys and umbrellas? What would it be like to travel on a ray of light? Why do people laugh at jokes? How do we know whether we are moving upwards or standing still in an elevator? books and arts