TABLE OF CONTENTS The development of our modern civilization to its current level is the result of creative thinking of many individuals of past and present times. Some of the important examples of past inventions and discoveries are the wheel, the automobile, the telephone, the steam engine, radio and television, the airplane, and the Internet. Past experience indicates that important discoveries and inventions are generally not accidents, as they may appear to be, but are the result of the intense efforts and determination of intelligent individuals, which were overlooked by ordinary minds.
In today's competitive environment, the survival of engineering and technology organizations very much depends on creative thinking and innovation. Furthermore, some companies estimate that as much as 80% of their total sales is due to products that were not on the market a decade earlier [1]. This clearly shows the importance of creativity and innovation to the health of organizations.
Over the centuries, many publications on creativity have appeared, and [2] lists 6,823 references appearing during the period 1566 1974 alone. These references are grouped into many distinct areas: scientific creativity, general creativity, creativity in the fine arts, creativity of women, creativity and psychopathology, facilitating creativity through education, and creativity in industry, engineering, business, and developmental studies.
Current information on the history of research of creativity and the last 50 years of creativity research is given in [3, 4], respectively. This chapter presents important aspects of creativity and innovation considered useful to technical professionals.
