1. MISCELLANEOUS REACTIONS TO THE TWO SETS OF SCIENCE-ART FUSION NOTES BY GERALD SHEPHERD IN ION EXCHANGE ETA AND THETA by Dr Christian Eley

1. TIME REVERSAL SYMMETRY by Gerald Shepherd
2. CROSS-CURRICULAR SCIENCE-ART PROJECTS FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN by Gerald Shepherd
3. TOWARDS THE DEATH OF TECHNOCRACY by Dr Christian EIey
4. CREATIVITY IN ENGINEERING DESIGN by Richard Chaplin
5. LUKE WARM FUSION by Gerald Shepherd
6. SCIENCE-ART FUSION SPOTLIGHT by Gerald Shepherd

1) We use coloured liquids in experiments to distinguish between different currents and flows in various model tanks etc. I think coloured food dyes are used.

2) There are a number of environmental domes around the world, the biggest is somewhere in Arizona. Experiments in atmospheric chemistry are carried out in environmental chambers which are, in effect, big plastic bags where a mixture of gases are exposed to sunlight. We used geodesic solar domes to control environments for trees in experiments to simulate acid rain.

3) In California there is a grizzly and bizarre industry of sawing off dead peoples' heads and storing them in liquid in liquid nitrogen to await resuscitation when medical science has caught up.

4) Various bands have used found instruments or industrial implements to make music such as Test Department and Einsturzende Neubauten (translating as knocking down new buildings). I am not sure how Health and Safety at work regulations fit in with someone playing grinding wheels with a chainsaw. There is a French saxophone collective (50 or more) that plays in modern architectural settings like London's South Bank and Pans' La Defence. Similarly there is a particular atmosphere for modem music played in a cathedral (Tangerine Dream in Coventry) or a Roman amphitheatre (The Cure at Orange, Pink Floyd in Venice).

5) Modern chemical graphics systems on mainframes can be used to design molecules. You can literally drive into the active site on an enzyme you are looking at.

6) There is a mythology associated with science like any other creative activity. There are stories of things discovered my mistake like penicillin and each scientific department in a university will have its own share of legends and apocryphal stories. I guess scientists want to appear 'human' at limes too! You only have to read one of Richard Feynmann's autobiographies.

7) The people at Hiroshima didn't initially realize that it was a nuclear bomb. They thought that magnesium powder had been dropped and that this was causing flashes when it hit overhead electric wires.

8) The railway system has its own art, graffiti, especially in New York where subway artists have come into the mainstream. Even London Underground has poetry on the tube while Dutch trains have modern art in the carriages.

9) Ambient music, soundscapes for landscapes like Eno's "Music For Airports". This is designed so that it can be listened to as a peripheral activity.

10) Photography of complicated scientific equipment or printed circuit boards. This can be seen in a technical way or as an aesthetic of lines and shapes. Similar vast tracts of formulae might be appreciated like Chinese characters as calligraphy without needing to understand the meaning.

11) Huge factories and power stations, nuclear bunkers, missile silos, vast ships can be seen as cathedrals of our machine age.

12) I really like the idea of shrines to machines, TV worship, of placing offerings in front of the TV or the telephone answering machine.

13) Videos of slow changes can be very interesting, eg. Brian Eno's New York skyscapes.

4) There is a man who walks across deserts and makes sculptures of found objects on the way (he always puts them back too) His name escapes me at the moment but he recently had a show at the Tate.

15) I am very interested in experiments of dialogue between tapes or duets between computers. Also having a number of tapes of the same tune all slightly out of phase or at slightly different speeds to see what happens, or filling a room with radios all tuned to different stations. Stockhausen has done a lot of this already.

16) Videos of the throwing process, the slow disintegration of a snowman.

7) A number of musicians all playing pre-arranged and different tunes. Musicians improvising together but isolated from each other.

18) Camouflage. In WW2 the British built a dummy airfield from wood and lit it up as a decoy. The Germans, however, bombed the real airfield but on their way home dropped a wooden bomb on the wooden airfield.

19) Are the bits of spacecraft left on the Moon and the satellites orbiting the Earth not already sculptures and monuments.

20) The recent performance of Pink Floyd's "The Wall" in Berlin with its huge structures, light shows, helicopters etc., and, of course, the famous inflatable pig.

Contrary to common sensory perception, time is not necessarily a unidirectional flow of events where the past is simply past and the future invariably follows the present. This is certainly not true at the sub-atomic level of existence where time's one way arrow is the exception not the rule. Apart from some oddball happenings like K-Meson decays, fundamental particles - in fact fundamental physics per se - do not distinguish between past and future; or even perhaps between cause and effect. Change the sign in a diagrammatical depiction of this reality and you immediately change the direction in time. A positron (anti-matter equivalent of the electron) moving forward in time is identical to an electron moving back. Ditto anti-proton etc. etc. Past and future are in consequence interchangeable entities (if indeed they exist at all) Artists are in the business of finding representations of the world or forming new models for reality. So how should they go about representing this 'New-Old Reality? Well it could of course be modeled in time based media such as cinema with comparative ease (particularly if one uses Everyday/Everyman imagery). But what about its representation in modern (i.e.. not figuratively symbolic) sculpture? I have listed below a few preliminary ideas which others might find of interest and may wish to extend.
 
 

1) Vertical sheet of transparent elastic material, with embedded designs, which can be pushed or pulled either way.

2) Designs on the inside of an oblong box, which is pivoted on an axis perpendicular to the box, which is viewed at the open ends.

3) Objects on the perimeter of  a vertical wheel which can be spun both ways. The pedestal holding the wheel can also be rotated.

4) Vertical strips on horizontal turntable can be spun round static central object in either direction.

5) Sculpted pendulum attached to the bottom of a sculpted pendulum moving in a different direction.

6) Vertical trampoline made from a strong mesh that 'spectators' can throw themselves into (or be pushed!) from both sides.

7) Corridor constructed 1mm permeable fabric. Coloured dust is blown from one side of the corridor onto opposite fabric and then blown back again. Creating different patterns each time.

8) Sculpture designed to be walked into and touched from the inside (the outer surface is not visible to the audience). Hot or cold air is blown at different areas of the sculpture from the outside in ever changing sequences. The spectators feel warming and cooling areas of sculpture.

9) System of pipes, pumps and clear plastic balloons laid on floor and set up so that the balloons take in (blow up) and let out (go down) coloured smoke in various forward and backward moving sequences.

10) Two sets of rib like systems of transparent flexible pipes with coloured liquid circulating in opposite directions in each set. Each set can be partially filled into the other or tightly enmeshed.

11) Designs on the outside of two transparent spheres. One sphere is fitted inside the other. The two spheres spin in different directions.

12) Magnetic putty is continually pulled in different directions by changing electromagnetic field.

13) Perforated designs on canvas strip mounted between two pulleys which can be pulled in either direction.

14) Spring attached to floor continually moving up and down in intermittent electromagnetic field. The entire apparatus is enclosed in transparent cylinder which is marked off with a series of numbered lines.15) Spectators stand (or sit) in transparent lift. Murals go all the way round and up the lift shaft. Spectators can operate lift in both directions.

16) Assemblage of vertical transparent tubes in which coloured balls randomly fall down or get sucked up by small vacuum pumps. The tubes are fitted close together and are of different lengths.

17) Loose patterned fabric is attached to vibrating mechanism which causes waves to move back and forth across the fabric.

18) Large upright and free standing metal minor with a written message on one side repeated on the other in 'mirror writing'.

19) Numbered translucent spheres, lit from inside, are fitted around the perimeter of a blank panel. The spheres light up in randomly reversing sequences. Spectators are allowed to write down the direction of the light sequence they are watching on the panel.

20) A thin canvas strip is attached at one end to a vertical pole. Designs on each side of the strip move in opposite directions.

GERALD SHEPHERD

These notes were scribbled down some years ago to explore ways of combining the teaching of art and science to primary school children. At that time science was not taught in primary schools and I wondered if projects such as these might form the basis for simple scientific investigation.

1) Paint is dripped on paper circles on revolving turntable (either hand or electrically operated). The turntable can be spun at    different speeds. The speed can be checked with a watch
2) Coloured sand or iron filings etc. is scattered on vibrating panel. The frequency of vibration can be altered. The sand could also be scattered on glue covered paper on vibrating panel.
3) Shallow fray of plaster of paris can be mechanically agitated when the plaster is wet to reveal interesting wave forms which will set. The frequency of the device agitating the plaster can be altered.
4) Coloured inks can be introduced into the bottom of jars of water and left to diffuse through the water.
5) Coloured ink can be introduced into swirling water (from small electric motor).
6) Paper is covered with fugitive inks - in an abstract pattern - then a figurative template is placed on paper which is then placed in the sun. Only the colours not covered by the template will fade.
7) Drawing designs in paper using scorch marks made by focusing sunlight through a magnifying glass.
8) Using a fan to make patterns with coloured sand on glue covered paper.
9) Making a windmill with six sails. Three of the sails are painted in the three primary colours (one colour per sail) and the other three sails are painted in the three secondary colours.
10) Using a machine on wheels that drips paint at regular intervals. Paintings can be produced by pushing the machine (at different speeds) across large sheets of paper.
11) The construction of Punch and Judy puppets using small magnets (powerful ones as their head, hands and feet). The magnets could repel each other.
12) A mother and child version of the above - the magnets would attract each other.
13) Paintings done on balloons which can then be blown up enlarging the images.
14) Paintings done on parachutes, kites and paper aeroplanes etc.
15) The construction of a rag puppet with an unbreakable mirror as a face. The puppet could be  used to illustrate simple optical laws concerning mirrors. Different types of mirrors could be used.
16) The construction of funny masks which contain various types of lenses fro eyes. It might be possible to explore the various properties of convex and concave lenses.
17) The construction of model flying saucers which incorporate telescope lenses. Viewed from beneath the world would look larger, viewed from above it would look smaller.
18) The construction of simple spaceman helmets. Two types are made. One type, supposed to be used by aliens from a very hot planet, are made from thick black felt. The other type, supposed to be used by aliens from a very cold planet are made from thin white cotton. The helmets are worn by children in the playground in various weather conditions including sunny days.
19) Two types of hat monster explore the same ideas as above.
20) Dolls made from transparent from transparent polythene bags. One or two bags are used for the body. Different bags are used for head and limbs. The bags could be filled with material such as coloured dyes.
21) Glove puppets made from material which is capable of building up large charges of static electricity. The puppet would attract various things that had an opposite charge.
22) Construction of a 'monsters tummy' with transparent sides, black base and silver  top. If this contained small pieces of silver paper and was placed in sun convection currents could be studied. It would contain water.
23) Oil trapped between two sheets of transparent plastic could be positioned in window. Diffraction patterns could be studied.
24) A face could be constructed with light bulbs for eyes and a small (or large!) siren for a mouth. These could be activated by switches and powered by a small battery.
25) Electroplating could be done using a small battery as a power source. Designs could be made if parts of the cathode plate were covered.
26) If the plate in the above was changed to an anode. Electropolishing designs could be made.
27) A 'fairy's tummy' could be made using a glass jar in which crystals are grown from super-saturated solutions.
28) Simple designs could be made using both white and black paper. If these were later put in the sun, temperature changes could be noted.
29) Simple designs could be made by painting the rims of different size wheels and then rolling them across a large sheet of paper. If a mark was made on the wheel rim the different distances made by the wheels making one complete revolution could be compared.
30) Designs could be made with iron filings by drawing a magnet underneath a sheet of paper - perhaps covered with a slow acting glue - on which the iron filings are scattered.
31) Monsters could be made from different materials such as cork, metal and stone etc. and the difference in weight then noted.
32) A camera obscura could be made in the classroom which shows the image on a white screen from which the children can copy it.
33) Imitation fossil casts could be made using everyday things of the twentieth century as the pretend fossils. Plaster of paris could be used as the mould or cast.
34) Impressions of children's feet could be made in wet plaster etc. Comparisons could be made between walking, hopping, jumping (messy!) etc.
35) Dolls could be made which had springs for arms. Different weights attached to the springs hands would stretch them by different amounts which could be measured.
36) Marbles could be kept moving by vibrating panel, simulating liquids, earthquakes etc.
37) Figurative designs could be made by pasting coloured electric wire onto cardboard. A bulb could be fitted at one end and a battery at the other.
38) Stick people could be made using thermometers (filled with alcohol only!) for their heads and bodies. If attached to card, arms and legs could be painted. The people could live in different environments.
39) Faces could be painted on clocks or little figures could replace the clock hands.
40) Plasticine rabbits are made using tree leaves for ears. The ears are replaced every week and changes in shape and colour could be noted.
41) Two types of scale figures are made. One type is made from a porous material like sponge and the other in a non-porous material (like plasticine?). If the figures are soaked in water and then put on scales or a model see-saw, children can observe what happens as the water evaporated from the sponge figure. 42) Patterns can be made by arranging test tubes containing chemical having different colours.
43) Designs can be made with invisible ink - later made visible.
44) A family made from plasticine - mummy, daddy and baby could each have precise weights (100 gms, 50 gms and 25gms for example). If a weighing machine was turned into a dolls house, various combinations of weight could be explored.
45) Gloves could be made with magnets attached to finger tips. North pole for thumb and south poles for the fingers. The children could explore their environment, touching different metals etc.
46) Gloves could be made which had metal strips on tips of thumb and forefinger, with a wire running through the glove between the two. A LED could be attached to the top of the glove. The children could explore their environment, touching various things to see if they conducted electricity.
47) Puppet versions of the above gloves could be made.
48) Badges could be made with materials that change colour according to temperature or light conditions.
49) Masks could be made with special lenses which duplicate how animals, flies for example, see the world.
50) Plasticine islands are made in trays of coloured liquid. Rulers as palm tree trunks measure the decrease in water height as the liquid evaporates.
51) Little figures are made from various materials such as balsa wood and plasticine etc. The figures would be placed in frays of water and comparisons made as regards what sinks or floats. Little boats could be constructed to carry various loads. Marks
would be made on the sides of the boats hulls.
52) Windmills could be made that pull a weight up on a chain after a certain number of revolutions. Different weights and different wind conditions could be explored.
53) Little figures are made from a variety of materials such as mud, stone, plaster etc. etc. These would be then placed outside and examined every morning for changes.
54) Cardboard sheets with designs cut out of them are pasted up in the window so that they cast beams of light into the classroom. The light beams would be observed as they move during the day.
55) Stick figures could be made from wire and placed in water. Refraction could be observed ,as can the changes in the material as it rusts.
56) Dolls made with bi-metal arms and legs bow and curtsy when the temperature rises.
57) Figures made from various materials (monsters and fairies) are attached to pieces of elastic and hung from the ceiling. Monsters descend further than fairies.
58) Little figures are made from colourless sponge material. The sponge figures are then placed in trays of coloured water. 59) Evaporating versions of the above.
60) Wave forms could be explored by painting skipping ropes in serpent colours with children wiggling them from either end.
61) Face made with compasses as eyes and a bar magnet for a month.
62) Tuning fork used to create patterns in wet paint.
63) A container holding dripping paint is attached to a pendulum. Different oscillations make different patterns on paper on floor.
64) Horizontal springs hold vertical paint brushes. The springs are stretched then released, making interesting patterns on the paper. The paper could also be moved. 65) Model landscape made from springs with nuts and bolts trees etc. Dolls made from scientific devices. Making designs with electronic components. Snap cards made with science images. Snakes and ladders game using scientific laws.
66) Use dolls and a mini-theatre set to explain the concept of parallax.
67) Make designs out of different sized cogs. Explore ratios.
68) Weaving done with electric wire. Shapes made with electric wire. The wire is then connected to a battery and the subsequent magnetic field will move compass needles, make patterns with iron filings etc.
69) Faces painted on pieces of rubber which can later be stretched or compressed. This would illustrate tensile and compressibility properties and principles.
70) Dolls made with hair that moves under influence of static electricity. Dolls made which themselves move by static electricity forces.
71) Dolls made with magnetic limbs can dance in electromagnetic fields.
72) The construction of simplified models of famous inventions or scientific experiments. Make models of factories
using everyday materials.
73) Coloured bead patterns made on operating horizontal loudspeaker. Coloured sand scattered on speaker.
74) Make dolls out of wax which will then change shape when heated. Dolls made from springs and material that expands when heated.
75) Metal puppets can be moved from behind screen with magnets. Dolls which can be opened out to reveal internal organs. Polythene doll in which plants can be grown. Dolls that move according to changes in air pressure.
76) Make a board game based on electronic circuitry. A radio circuit playground game. A burglar alarm board game. Make giant electronic circuit board diagram on the floor so that the children can act as the components. Balls could be passed around to represent the electric current. Electronic ball game.

GERALD SHEPHERD

Style Over Content:

In television programmes such as 'Miami Vice', where there is little more than a basic story line, we are watching the domination of style over content in the context of traditional television production values, although this might also be seen as a new form of narrative method. There is a constantly changing array of lush images with an equally carefully selected soundtrack paraded before an audience whose attention span has been contracted to the duration of a 30 second sound-byte. In US television this mode of production has been extended as far as
current affairs programming where the television news is little more than a series of 'singing dog from Nebraska' novelty stories to fill in the gaps between commercials. The perceived image as consumed by the target audience is far more important than the content of the message.
 

The Technocratic Priesthood:

Photography is tricky, very difficult. Cameras are complex beasts covered with lashing lights and buttons, in need of numerous different lenses and complicated gadgets. You must be an expert to use one, or, at least, to use one properly and produce decent results. The darkroom is a difficult place to work. Developing and printing are black arts, alchemy. It takes years of experience to know when things feel just right. Without that experience you might just as well send your films to the local chemist. So reads the myth of many modern methods of production in art. The priesthood want to keep it to themselves. They don't want the uninitiated barging into their sacred rituals.

The Teaching of Technocracy:

In general, the teaching of photography appears to be incredibly technically based. We are taught to point the camera, setting the correct f-stop and shutter speed. Then we are taught how to develop the film to the correct recipe, and to print clearly, in focus and with the appropriate contrast. We all end up with technically proficient images. Unfortunately we have learned technique over content and our nice, clear images have nothing to say. The production of the photographic image is not placed in any context beyond the chemistry and physics of light into image, or the cookery of the processing stage except perhaps that of the commercial image. It is essential to also learn about what the image can do, what it can mean, and where we stand with it in relation to the sociopolitical environment it is produced in. I am not proposing that the technical aspects of the production of photographic images should be ignored since they are essential, but that more emphasis should be placed on the image itself. Otherwise we might as well produce beautifully crafted photographs of half-naked women draped around shiny cars, or of chocolate
bars.

The Democratization of Production:

The advent of cheap, mass-produced technlogy has helped to take the production of art out of the hands of the elite, technocratic priesthood and put it into the hands of mere mortals. The barrier of he difficulty of using the technology of production has been removed. No more worries about all the knobs and buttons on the camera, with auto-focus, automatic exposure control etc. It's just a case of pointing the thing at the subject and away you go. No need to immerse yourself in the dark and arcane rituals of the technology, no rite of initiation. What is lost in flexibility is more than made up form availability. There is no longer any need to be obsessed with the machine for producing the image, you can now actually concentrate on the content of the image itself. Similarly video has brought film making to many with portable, easy to use equipment and relatively cheap and simple editing. Who needs Steven Spielberg and a multi-million dollar epic about a small, green creature living out the American dream, pick up your camcorder and go out and make movies. It is interesting to note that even in 1988 when video was already a well-recognised way of making moving images, the University of Southern California, which has one of the top Film Schools in the USA (with such notable alumni as George Lucas) ran no courses on video making. Why make a movie for £5000 when you can spend £20 million. With a £20 million budget, the tendency to self-censorship will pander to the ideological message of the establishment backers. Any attempt to go away from this formula is strictly controlled by the exertion of control via the purse strings. Can you name a big-budget Hollywood movie in the last 10 years that was really controversial? (or even perhaps slightly controversial). I bet you can think of a controversial video. Why are all the bad guys the personification of the USA's latest enemy? For the next year or so all the baddies will no doubt look like Saddam Hussein. Even the world of music with its vast symphony orchestras and its expensive studio time is no longer immune from the ravages of low cost technology. Cheap keyboards and home studios mean that almost everybody can have a go at bashing out a hit single. The arrival of PC-based emulation and sampling packages will throw this open even more. Not even the pen is safe. You don't need to go through the arduous and costly process of having your slim volume of poetry printed. You can word process at home on your PC, or make it even neater using a desktop publishing package, then photocopy it. I hope that these examples illustrate the idea that we are no longer constrained by a lack of access to the means of production in what we create because the low cost and wide availability of new technologies have brought them down from the realms of fantasy into our everyday lives. It's up to you to go out and use them. There are no excuses any more.

SUMMARY

The approach adopted was to review the processes of engineering design which entail creative thinking from a methodology viewpoint, in terms of current teaching practice and as carried out by active designers in industry. Observations relating to the creative design processes published in the 1950's and 1960's have been found to provide an informative insight to the mental processes of successful designers today. This insight coupled with observations regarding the tendency for children to develop intellectual abilities which have been described as either convergent or divergent, leads not only to the identification of the naturally talented designer as a sort of controlled schizophrenic, but also to identification of the essential mental controls which lead to successful application of formalised methods. It has also led to a clarification of the different psychological attributes required by effective designers as opposed to scientists.

A further outcome of the study has been to identify different levels of creative thinking which take place during the design process, Essentially, these can be separated into conceptual and detail design. The education of engineers in the UK tends to be fairly good as regards me former, but tends to leave me latter more to chance. Somewhat the opposite seems to be the case in the educational systems operating in some countries which are our industrial rivals. This is dearly an area where British Industry could benefit from some changes in undergraduate teaching. The options have been explored and some recommendations made but there is, of course, no easy remedy.

BACKGROUND TO STUDY

The overall objective of this study was to identify the educational methods by which we can most effectively develop and enhance the creative potential of the young design engineer. The need for such a study was highlighted in the SPRU report on Training and Circumstances of Engineers in the 21st Century', and subsequently sponsored through the Education, Training and Competence to Practise Committee of The Fellowship of Engineering. At the outset of this study It was envisaged that the work would divide into a number of steps which, though interactive to some degree, would be more or less sequential:

i) to review the psychology of creativity as it is related to the engineering design process; ii) through discussions with designers and design managers in industry, to collect information relating to their own interpretations of the creative function of the design engineer, and also what they felt were the shortfalls or omissions in the relevant parts of undergraduate teaching programmes; iii) through discussions with those involved in design education at various levels, to identify the spectrum of relevant current methods and the areas which people felt were being neglected; iv) from the information collected, to distil a set of educational objectives in terms of the knowledge and skills necessary to become an effective and creative designer engineer; and, v) to recommend teaching/training procedures through which to introduce students to the tools of creative stimulation and effective engineering design.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CREATIVE THOUGHT

The psychological processes by which the human mind generates new ideas have been a topic which has naturally attracted considerable attention over the years. The literature related to the subject ranges from "An Essay on Original Genius by W. Duff (1767) to articles in the colour supplements of Sunday newspapers claiming that brain power can be enhanced by eating a special diet of seafood and muesli with no smoking and drinking (Cannon (1988)), and an improvement in creative power may be attained by directing thought processes to the right hand side of the brain (Askwith (1988)).

The question of the physical location of different classes of thought processes, in terms of left and right cerebral hemispheres, is a very interesting one which is described luridly by Ornstein and Thompson (1985) and reviewed in more detail by Le Doux (1983). Although the discoveries of asymmetry have Led to some rather exaggerated claims, it is undoubtedly a fact that different cognitive processes take place in different regions of the cerebellum. Of particular interest here is the observation that visuo-spatial perception is essentially a right hemisphere function, while mathematical and to some extent verbal processes are left hemisphere functions. An aptitude for visuo-spatial perception is clearly of considerable importance in engineering design, but to what extent this might be linked to creative functions is not clear. What maybe of more relevance however is the tendency for individuals to develop some cognitive skills to higher degrees than others thus utilising the functions of the left hemisphere more than the right. This issue of what might be described as mental specialisation will be given further consideration below.

At a rather more practical level quite a lot has been written about creative processes in the Arts, Science and Technology. Perhaps the most useful source here has been Osborn's work (1953): "Applied Imagination. Principles and Procedures of Creative Problem- Solving > Osborn's development of brainstorming and description of routes to idea formation, as well as factors which can inhibit idea formation, are both illuminating and comprehensive. Consideration of inhibiting factors is particularly important. Osborn states that "Our thinking mind is mainly twofold: i) a judicial mind which analyses, compares and chooses; and, ii) a creative mind which visualises, foresees and generates ideas. The basic argument which he develops is that while everyone throughout their everyday life has to exercise judgement and decision making, the opportunities for creativity tend to dwindle as we grow older. So unless a conscious effort is maintained to sustain and stimulate creative faculties, they tend to atrophy as we age, while our critical analytical faculties continue to develop with use. Coupled with this is the observation that creative thought is inhibited by the kind of attitude that frequently accompanies analysis and judgement. These inhibiting factors are particularly apparent in groups, which explains why the mental climate which must be encouraged for successful brainstorming is defined as: positive, uncritical, stimulating, optimistic, self confident etc. Furthermore what goes for group creativity also seems to apply to individual creativity. In simple terms during the processes of ideation a critical, analytical attitude has a negative effect.

Criticism and analysis are of course essential parts of the overall process of innovative design. Many writers on the subject identify four stages (Broadbent (1966), Algerand Hays (1964)

i) preparation; ii) incubation; iii) illumination; and, iv) verification.

In these the creative element is concentrated in the second phase, being terminated by illumination (which maybe that flash of inspiration'), but is preceded by an analytical phase involving collection and analysis of information, and followed by further analysis and critical judgement. The description of illumination is however somewhat inappropriate to design problems being more appropriate to the research scientist who is searching for the single correct explanation for some observed phenomenon; the design engineer is always looking for a range of alternative solutions.

The incubation phase, also termed withdrawal (Dixon (1966)) or speculation (Gordon (1961)), is the creative core. Poincare (1914) describes this part of the process when applied to mathematical discovery as a series of trial combinations taking place essentially at a subconscious level guided by an emotional sensibility. Osborn (1953) is more concerned with the mental processes of ideation and identifies association of ideas as the basis of idea finding. He defines various forms of association and analogy, and also describes the frame of mind that an individual, or group, needs to develop to be receptive to association. In this context it is possible to generalise to the extent that a positive attitude is essential so that any thoughts, attitudes or voiced opinion which is not positive, or at least voiced in a positive way, will be counter-productive. These limitations are further illustrated by Osborn's analysis of the factors which tend to inhibit creativity:

i) The exercise of judgement arid criticism - If a colleague says: "That will never work as a response to an idea, then the originator of the idea, who presumably thought it had some merit, will be quite discouraged from making further contributions. However thick-skinned people might appear to be, there is always a reaction to criticism, especially in public. Conversely praise and encouragement will have a beneficial stimulating effect.

ii) Previous habits - This is the need to get out of the rut, to break the mould and in this way avoiding preconceptions and prejudice.

iii) Self-discouragement- "I will never be able to... is no way to start. Note however that the opposite is not arrogant egotism, but rather an open minded (i.e. receptive) self-confidence.

iv) Timidity - Creative thinking does require a certain courage, a boldness or even a taste for risk and adventure, and in this search for the novel idea (association) an uninhibited yet controlled attitude is productive.

Bruner ~1962) who defines the creative act as one that produces "effective surprise , also describes it as " the resultant of combinatorial activity , which brings us yet again to the creative incubation process as one that involves a way of thinking that is essentially associative. And Tony Buzan in his highly successful book "Use Your Head (1974) advocates an "organic , associative method for the creative development of ideas.

Gordon's work on Synectics (1961) provides further illumination on the mechanics of creative problem solving by groups. Gordon's recipe for creative innovation has been used successfully by others (Parker (1985)) and for its creative core depends on various forms of analogy not unlike Osborn's association.

Of particular interest here are the fundamental hypotheses stated by Gordon:

Synectics theory holds that:

i) creative efficiency in people can be markedly increased if they understand the psychological processes by which they operate;

ii) in creative processes the emotional component is more important than the intellectual, the irrational more important than the rational; and,

iii) it is these emotional, irrational elements which can and must be understood in order to increase the probability of success in a problem-solving situation.

As already noted Poincare (1914) has referred to an emotional sensibility, and Gordon places considerable emphasis on the need, as an essential part of the creative synectics process, for members of the group to develop an emotional understanding for features of a problem.

Dixon (1966) in discussing the characteristics of inventive people, refers to Jung's work on psychological types which includes a judging-perceptive scale. Dixon identifies the perceptive person as being the more innovative since he is more receptive, or sensitive, to experience, and therefore, when confronted with a new problem, in a position to have more to draw upon. He also suggests various actions as a means to improve perceptiveness, and therefore inventiveness. Included amongst these is the advice to avoid the habit of judgement which is said to interfere with observation. But the effectiveness of this advice has more to do with Osborn's observations about the directly inhibiting influence of a critical attitude.

The work by Hudson (1966) describing a psychological study of clever schoolboys is of considerable relevance here. Hudson identifies two types: the converger and the diverger. Hudson 's work also implies that there was a tendency in the boys he studied for them to be either one or the other, and although he does describean all-rounder, this type accounts for no more than 40% of the total. In other words as children grow and develop, and determined to a significant extent by their emotional environment, they become either convergers or divergers.

The characteristics, capabilities and inclinations which Hudson attributes to these two types seem far more closely tied to creative and innovative ability than Jung's judging- perceptive scale, especially when examined against Osborn's "Principles and Procedures of Creative Problem-Solving (1953). Basically the difference between Hudson's two types is that the converger is good at the conventional I.Q. test with the single correct answer arrived at be deduction, while the diverger is good at the open ended kind of test (e.g. how many uses can you think of for a brick, paper clip, barrel etc.?). The two types showed a strong correlation with the academic subject preference; the diverger for the Arts, and the converger for the Sciences.

The converger likes logical rational argument. He concentrates on impersonal things, is cautious about expressing feelings and tends to be defensive.

The diverger is essentially the antithesis of the converger. He prefers people to things, being more at home with the human side of culture, and avoiding things which are technical and practical. He is eager to express emotion but is uneasy with precise argument. The diverger is therefore more attuned to associative thinking while the converger is happier with analytical, logical deductive thinking.

These two ways of thinking about problems are different. It also seems that children (or at least intelligent boys) tend to develop aptitudes for one or the other, and those who develop an aptitude for logical deductive tend to make an academic choice for mathematics and the sciences, while those with an aptitude for associative thinking opt for the arts.

Hudson's work seems to point clearly to an acceptance of the diverger as the naturally creative individual, and this is most certainly an attractive proposition which accords with the associative thinking theory. However Hudson himself expresses particular caution on Just this point: "My own belief is that original work will come from convergers and divergers alike; and that the convergence and divergence of an individual will determine not whether he is original but, if he is original, the field and style in which his originality will manifest itself.

Hudson then ascribes an individual's aptitude for original work to other aspects of his character, listing qualities which show strong parallels with those derived from Osborn's work:

i) persistence;
ii) self-confidence;
iii) aggression;
iv) risk-seeking;
v) rebelliousness and sexuality; and,
vi) nympholepsy (or yearning for the unattainable).

These observations are consistent with the arguments already advanced, but with the qualification that the convergers and the divergers given, or having developed, the necessary attitudes and qualities, will be likely to succeed in differing fields. The difference is that convergers will be creative in fields where original work can be accomplished through analysis and deduction, while creative work that requires the kind of associative approach detailed above needs divergent thinking. This it seems is an important distinction which in broad terms identifies a vital difference between scientific research and engineering design (at least at the conceptual level). Scientific research can be advanced largely through the deductive analytical approach; engineering design has a far greater need for the associative form of creative thought.

The importance attributed by a number of writers and also by designers (Gordon (1961), to emotional involvement with a problem lends even further support to the divergent nature of the creative, conceptual phase of engineering design. Cross (1989) has described the process of design as fluctuating between divergence and convergence in terms of thinking style.

It is clear that if an associative approach is needed for the creative bits, then these must be kept quite separate from the other phases where the analysis and judgement would quench the creative spark This leads us to another important observation that the designer, who will be involved at each stage, needs to be able to think about the design in different ways at different stages of the process. He must play a different role at the requirements change from creativity to analysis, to decision making, and back to creativity. Any confusion of the roles, particularly confusing judgement with synthesis, will be counter-productive. Ullman etal. (1988), although defining them in a different terminology, have also noted these conflicting roles of the designer.

A reasonable deduction is that the natural designer has a subconscious talent to change his way of thinking when he changes roles. The designer without this natural talent must develop the ability to control and change his thinking styles.

As Smalley (1 989) has also noted the selection procedure whereby children at school in the UK find their way into the engineering profession is such that divergers, those with the natural talent for associative creative thinking, become attracted to arts subjects, so giving up the mathematics and physical sciences that the universities and polytechnics demand for admission to study engineering. Those that do find their way to engineering degree courses are largely convergers or Hudson's all-rounders.

At first sight it might appear that the all- rounder is just what is required for a design engineer, but the all-rounder is just that: neither converger or diverger, a bit of both. What is needed to become a natural designer is an individual who is both, but not at the same time; he must be able to flip from converger to diverger at will, as a kind of controlled schizophrenic.

CONCLUSIONS

1) Creative thinking (the formation of original ideas or original combinations of ideas) is essential to effective design.

2) The nature or style of creative thinking varies through the design process; a different kind of creative thinking being required at the early conceptual stages of design from that needed at the detailing stage.

3) Creative thinking benefits from the right environment, and needs the right attitude of mind. It is helped by

- self-confidence;
- persistence and determination;
- constructive discontent (quest for the ideal);
- an adventurous spirit;
- readiness to embrace irrational and emotional involvement;
- a receptive, open mind;
- freedom from inhibitions.

It is hindered by:

- criticism and judgement;
- inability (and reluctance) to break out of a set pattern, or an accepted conservative view;
- timidity.

4) Thorough and detailed analysis of a problem is an essential precursor to the formation of creative solutions. This analysis leads to an understanding from which the transition can be made to a creative attitude, initiated by an emotional involvement and sensitivity to the problem.

5) Individuals perform better when they have some understanding of the psychological processes at work in associative creative thinking.

6) Somepeoplehave developed from an early age a divergent way of thinking that is especially suited to the associative thought processes that are the essence of creativity. Such people when at school find the arts subjects easier than mathematics and the physical sciences. The opposite form, convergers, are good at analytical, deductive, logical thinking, and when they are at school they find mathematics and the physical sciences easier than the arts. They are particularly ill at ease declaiming emotional involvement. These differences influence option selections at school, ultimately restricting the choice of degree course.

7) The design process cycles from a creative expanding phase, through an analytical phase. to a decision making phase and back to the creative again. These constitute different roles which the designer must adopt in sequence. 8) The logical, analytical, judgmental way of thinking inhibits and quenches creative,associative thinking, especially in one to whom it does not come naturally. There is therefore a clear need for the designer to differentiate between the steps in the design process which require him to assume the different mental roles.

9) Naturally talented engineering designers seem to exhibit characteristics of both convergers and divergers, but not in a mixed sense; they appear tohave the ability to switch from one to the other as the need arises.

10) The various formal procedures advanced for stimulating creative thought are structured to encourage the creative attitude of mind and trigger associative thinking. These procedures when used with confidence (lack of confidence and a critical attitude inhibit creative thinking) can be effective. It is to be expected that such procedures will often seem strange - this is a necessary feature to break away from the set way of thinking and form fresh ideas.

11) The changes in creative thinking as the design process cycles from problem formulation through to definition of the final design details, move from a conceptual and functional structure, to more specific components and processes. Input in the form of recalled ideas is necessary throughout, but at the de tall design stage there is a need for a far more specific level of knowledge relating to spedfic components and processes. As a consequence of these differing needs, the creative thinking involved moves to a higher, less emotional, level of consciousness.

12) Creative thinking performance is refined by practice and experience. This is applicable both to individualsand to groups. With groups thereis also the added problem of assembling a well balanced and compatible team who, through working together in this way, will develop close emotional ties and defensive reactions against outsiders. Students should be given ample opportunity for creative design work as a member of a group to develop the necessary skills.

13) The increasing use of CAD systems is not thought to diminish or alter the basic creative role of the designer, and may place even greater emphasis on the need for creative ability. Expert systems should help in this area of providing specific detail information.

This study was commissioned by the Education, Training and Competence to Practise Committee of The Fellowship of Engineering as a part of a broad initiative concerned with stimulating debate on The Education and Training of Chartered Engineers for the 21st Century. The primary objective of the study was to identify ways by which the creative design ability of young engineers can beenhanced.
 

Professor White-Rabbit, world famous science-art fusionist, has recently brought to our attention his latest concept:
Animal Art!
He has already begun tentative experiments in this field. These include training rattlesnakes to rattle in a Samba rhythm using an electronic implant, persuading mating slugs to duplicate the last act of Swan Lake using pheromones and the creation of Michelangelo's David from bird droppings using hypnotized starlings. Early results have been encouraging - the slugs enjoyed themselves!
White-Rabbit also suggests the possibility of 'Techanimology': the use of animals to replace traditional technology. He is hoping to construct a super computer using nectar networked bee hives. He has already patented a new type of fountain pen using medicinal leeches
(fed on a mixture of blood and Indian ink) and a project for making railway signals from inebriated tree sloths shows promise.
Luke-Warm Fusion will be a regular feature exploring state of the idea' concepts. Readers are welcome to send in material.

GERALD SHEPHERD

Horticulture is a good example of practical Science-Art Fusion. Most aspects of gardening require input of some kind from both art and science. To design a garden or arrange a flower display you need not only an eye for colour and form but a basic understanding of botany. Bonsai is science in art's clothing, while plant breeding is art in science's. Many old propagation techniques and modern growing regimes have much to interest the science-orientated artist. All in all, horticulture could be seminal in the flowering of the Science-Art Fusion field and a fruitful avenue of research.
Science-Art Fusion Spotlight will be a regular feature, exploring a particular area of likely interest. Readers are invited to contribute.

GERALD SHEPHERD