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In Extraordinary Minds, a book as riveting as it is new, Gardner poses an important question: Is there a set of traits shared by all truly great achievers - those we deem extraordinary - no matter their field or the time period within which they did their important work?
In an attempt to answer this question, Gardner first examines how most of us mature into more or less competent adults. He then examines closely four persons who lived unquestionably extraordinary lives - Mozart, Freud, Woolf, and Gandhi - using each as an exemplar of a different kind of extraordinariness: Mozart as the master of a discipline, Freud as the innovative founder of a new discipline, Woolf as the great introspector, and Gandhi as the influencer.
What can we learn about ourselves from the experiences of the extraordinary? Interestingly, Gardner finds that an excess of raw power is not the most impressive characteristic shared by superachievers; rather, these extraordinary individuals all have had a special talent for identifying their own strengths and weaknesses, for accurately analyzing the events of their own lives, and for converting into future successes those inevitable setbacks that mark every life.
Gardner provides answers to a number of provocative questions, among them: How do we explain extraordinary times - Athens in the fifth century B.C., the T'ang Dynasty in the eighth century, Islamic Society in the late Middle Ages, and New York at the middle of the century? What is the relation among genius, creativity, fame, success, and moral extraordinariness? Does extraordinariness make for a happier, more fulfilling life, or does it simply create a special onus?
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Previews available in: English
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Edition | Availability |
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1
Extraordinary minds: portraits of exceptional individuals and an examination of our extraordinariness
1998, BasicBooks
in English
0465021255 9780465021253
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2
Extraordinary Minds (Masterminds Series)
April 1998, Basic Books
in English
0465021255 9780465021253
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3
Extraordinary minds: portraits of exceptional individuals and an examination of our extraordinariness
1997, BasicBooks
in English
- 1st ed.
0465045154 9780465045150
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4
Extraordinary Minds
1997, Basic Books Inc., Orion Publishing Group, Limited
Hardcover
0297819518 9780297819516
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Book Details
First Sentence
"Of the billions of human beings who have walked our planet in the last few thousand years, comparatively few have left traces beyond their immediate circle."
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- Created April 29, 2008
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May 30, 2019 | Edited by MARC Bot | associate 1 edition with work |
August 6, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
April 24, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs. |
April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
April 29, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |