Fire & the Built Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Fire & the Built Environment - Essay Example It also seeks to create awareness to the public regarding the laws, regulations and various behavior modes found in the building and the environment around. The paper further helps in enhancing the knowledge as well as necessary skills of the researcher in solving problems, analysis of data and information, working as a team and establishing independent working mind. Since time immemorial, fire has been causing several accidents though fire explosions. Sometimes, they are quite horrible as well as devastating. Fire accidents have been causing a lot of damage to property as well as several loses of peoples lives. In several incidences, fire accidents have been leading to loss of millions assets and even affect the countries economy. In spite of the dangers posed by fire accidents, fire has been so crucial to human being life and hence can not be avoided. Fire is essential in cooking, domestic uses and even for leisure. Most fire accidents occur as a result of human carelessness as well as natural disasters. Although most of the fire accidents starts as small mistakes by different people, the fire spreads out quickly as a result of lack of the most appropriate preventive measures which can be employed in containing the situation(Fire Precautions, 2008). There is therefore the need to educate as well as find the best approaches of dealing with fire. There is also the need of use of the best measures to avoid much damage in case the fire occurs. Ignorance to understand these measures as well as the necessary experience, as witnessed in several cases that fire have happened and caused damages, are the major concern which the fire prevention departments need to explore further. The safety measures and precautions needed in buildings and their environment are usually referred to as fire safety. They are employed to help prevent or if possible reduce the potential damage that

Human Resource Manager's Use of Computer Tools Research Paper

Human Resource Manager's Use of Computer Tools - Research Paper Example This essay discusses that human resources managers utilize a number of technological tools on a daily basis to carry out their jobs. At the core of those technological tools is the personal computer, which adds in to the good organization of the human resources experts by letting them to make use of electronic recording systems. â€Å"Software used by HR managers includes word processing programs, spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel and Lotus 1-2-3, accounting software like Intuit QuickBooks, AccountantsWorld Payroll Relief and Sage Software Peachtree, and various types of HR software. Human resource-specific software includes programs such as Sage Software Abra HRMS, WhizLabs Software and UniFocus Watson Human Resources Manager software†. Conventionally human resource management (HRM) has had a people centric approach. However, these days, when the economical requirements of the market call for a reorientation of strategic human resource beliefs and trainings, a stress is be ing put on an administration supported by knowledge applying technology as a tool. This paper sheds light on the inferences of this ‘new imperative on human resource management’. Now, HR tasks include a sufficient range of actions needing extremely diverse ‘skill sets’, from ‘compensation and benefit’ supervision - extremely quantitative - to worker associations - extremely qualitative. Therefore, there are justifiable issues regarding whether these tasks has to be together on executive arrangements with respect to latest reality as well as technologies. Discussion To be considered flourishing, HR tools should attain quite a lot of objectives, including (a) strategic coalition, which should sustain the objectives of a business by facilitating users; (b) business intelligence, which is requires to encourage fresh insights as well as knowledge, by offering users appropriate data and information, and by responding to inquiries. In addition, (c) co mpetence and success, which must modify the work done by HR workers, by radically recuperating their level of service, permitting additional time for job of better worth, and decreasing their expenditure. Computer tools for HRM can facilitate businesses in achieving their objectives and aims at present as well as in the upcoming times by: (1) assisting managers to set up their workforce more resourcefully, (2) making sure that workforce get appropriate guidance and progress. Thirdly, presenting fresh insights on the way to boost output; (4) facilitating workers as well as managers to get required data quicker; (5) decreasing HR executive expenditures; and (6) supporting with enhanced worker appraisal as well as selection (Roebuck, 2011). The end of post World War II-based suppositions of continuing connection between ‘employers and employees’, needs a fresh representation of employees growth that identifies worker mobility, economical stress, globalization, in addition to the rate of alteration within important computer tools (Bohlander & Snell, 2009). There is a basic requirement in HR to go on with expanding an evolution to ‘technology centric’ knowledge management, but with a ‘people focused’ approach. This is a significant concern these days due to the rational resources of a business. Knowledge management has a main part in guaranteeing competitiveness of the business rests on the insight that in business in today’s world, the single really exceptional resource of a company is the ‘intellectual and human capital’ (Bondarouk, 2011). Human Resource scheduling is linked with the inhibited consumption of workers to attain pre-decided aims - both interim as well as continuing. Following are its three most important traits: (1) demand work concerning assessing, evaluating, and trying to estimate the amount; (2) supply work trying to forecast what action is, and will

Essay response Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Response - Essay Example e blacks were victimized as a community but there were other groups of people that suffered at the hands of such an extremely discriminating system as well. The free black community also suffered at the hands of the white masters indirectly. The free carpenter boy who loved the slave girl could not marry her because she was someone else’s property. Similarly, the wives of the white masters were also victimized by their husband’s sexual relations with the slave women. They were forced to accept the insolent sexual behaviour of their husbands. It must have been really hard for them to turn a blind eye to the slave children their husbands bore with the slave women. Thus, women- either black or white received the most brutal blows of slavery. The free people of the North that represent a silent community are looked upon with great hope by the slave girl. She wonders why they were silent; as she believes that they have the power to change the system. The silence of the free people of the North actually represents the indifferent attitude usually adopted by those people who live in their own little bubble of life. This is not just a personal narrative of a slave girl but a life changing experience to read about her ordeal. This narrative compels the minds of the readers to think about what it is like to be a slave to another human being. This enables us to think beyond our immediate lives and to reach out to others who are in trouble. It also pinpoints to the fact that people in trouble look up to those who are in a strong position to change the course of their lives and destinies; and if their calls for help remain unanswered, then whatever hope they have turns into hopelessness and despair. â€Å"If God has bestowed beauty upon her, it will prove her greatest curse.† (47) This narrative is also about power, strength, hope, virtuousness and determination of human soul. The slave girl is an epitome of bravery and courage as she tries to fight back and to resist.

ACCOUNTING Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ACCOUNTING - Article Example This all contributed to the collapse of world’s largest and most powerful economies of the world. The paper, in general, tries to identify the various factors in the field of accounting research that contributed to the fall of financial system in the USA. It also talks about how weak laws and financial reporting requirements as a result of insufficient accounting research have contributed to the crisis apart from irresponsible behavior of the bankers and the banks. This article is written in this time because the entire world is going through a turbulent phase of global financial crisis which has not only paralysed the US economic system, but also the world economic system.The main point that the article discusses is the financial reporting requirements and in particular the valuation regulations. The article uses the secondary research methodology when analyzing the role of accounting research in its attempt to curb or stop the looming crisis. It talks about the fair value ac counting and how it contributed to the fall in the accounting system. It pays particular attention to the manipulation that many companies did in order to window-dress their financial statements and use it as a tool to justify money laundering, over-valued SIVs etc. However, at the same time, it criticizes the role of accounting research by using the observational secondary research. It says that even when the fair-value accounting was at its peak, the researchers were unable to publish any data or any empirical data about the problems that it could cause. Instead, during the years preceding crisis, there was no research done on the issue, and it was after the crisis had been fully operational that accountants starting paying heed to the issue and starting researching the topic. This again is used by the writer, as an evidence to signify the gap between accounting in practice and accounting research through observation and secondary research as a methodology. The article then comes down to the third argument that is used a factor showing the gap between accounting research and accounting

Human Resources Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Resources - Assignment Example Personnel management department is part of the organization that deals with recruitment and development of employees so that they become productive in the organization. Personnel management is concerned with the affairs of the human resources of the organization.  It advises the management on matters concerning the human resources from the beginning of the recruitment program to the end of employment contract. Personnel management department plays a significant role of assisting the management in handling all the affairs of the human resource in the organization. A personnel manager act as spokes man of the human resources since he has personal contact with the employees and managers. Personnel management office is the link between the human resources, and the management thereby ensuring there is harmonious interaction and communication between the two. It is the counseling department of all human resource problems in an organization. The office devices solutions to human resource problems and guide them on what measures to put in place (Patel, 2007, p. 46) Human resource management is the department that is concerned with management of the affairs of the human resources in the organization. Functions of the human resource management department It set out the rules and regulations that govern the human resources within the organization. It is responsible with the reward systems of the organization. They ensure that the employees are rewarded in accordance with the set standards and their productivity. This is to ensure that the organization does not exploit the human resources. It organizes training and development activities for the human resources to ensure that they improve their productivity. The department ensures that the organization is compliant with employment and labor laws set out by various organs. The department ensures that the human resources operate in safe working conditions by providing them with safety working facilities (Levine, 1987, p.25 ). Differences between human resource and personnel management Hrm advocates for decentralization of power from the top management to the employees while personnel management advocates for full authority in the top management during decision making. Personnel management employees human resources based on a written agreement that is a short term. This contract is so compact and does not give room for changes or modifications. On the contrary, hrm advocates for a long term employment where the working conditions are less rigid and can be amended regularly to accommodate the interests of all parties involved.

Hills Like White Elephants Essay Example for Free

Hills Like White Elephants Essay In ‘‘Hills Like White Elephants,’’ Ernest Hemingway reformulates and reassesses his own experiences in terms of male-female relationships and decisions about childbearing. The story bears clear marks of autobiographical inspiration, and Hemingway chose a rather odd time to write it: his honeymoon with his second wife Pauline. The author would marry four times in total during his sixty-one years, and ‘‘Hills With White Elephants’’ reveals some of his inner conflicts about intimacy. Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway is a short story that provokes not only the readers intellect but also his/ her moral stand. There were critical moral issues addressed in this story; abortion, teenage pregnancy, and morality to name a few. hemingway also used symbols to enrich the text. The color-white, elephants and hills basically emphasized the PREGNANCY issue in the story. Also, we can say that the setting and the conversations added the beauty of the work. It may sound so simple but Hemingway has his way of simplicity. Keep in mind the era in which the story was written: the 1920s. Social mores were much more conservative then, and there was little public or private aid for unwed pregnant women or single mothers. Spain in the 1920s was strictly Roman Catholic, and the only acceptable options for Jig would have been marriage or adoption. Another issue is abandonment. The man is an American, but is Jig? Does Hemingway tell us? Even if she persuades him to marry her, there is the possibility that he may just leave her. What kind of life would the child have if the couple did marry and have the baby? Would the parents drink too much? Would they argue and fight? Would the man resent the child and make his feelings obvious? I hope these musings help you! (cited in e-notes. com) In typical Hemingway fashion, this short story leaves much room for interpretation and most critical details regarding character and plot unstated. Clearly, through the dialogue (the one messenger the reader has to this couples relationship) we realize that they are at odds over the issue of an impending abortion. As for other social issues, the language speaks to the unrestricted life of the hedonistic, ex-patriot era that many Americans enjoyed in Europe. Jig, the female, mentions that none of this is ours anymore, referring to the easy life of traveling without responsibilities or restrictions. For her, things will change; for the boyfriend, who is rationalizing the procedure as something simple and easy (nothing at all) theyll go right back to their vagabond ways and everything will be fine. On a more basic level, the stereotypical view that some men have (especially young, selfish men) about abortion being a quick fix, while women see it as a brief, yet permanently life changing decision could be another social issue. Again, Hemingway suggests, but never outright states. (cited in e-notes. com) The subject the man and the girl are discussing is that of an abortion. The fact that they discuss the operation without calling it an abortion relays a lot about the couple and their relationship. By not naming the operation, they are attempting to trivialize the seriousness of the situation. Clearly, the relationship has many flaws, seen in the way they are dealing with the subject. It is not a straightforward or honest conversation, especially on the part of the man. The man clearly wants the girl to have the abortion. He makes light of the seriousness and psychological impact it would have for the girl. He attempts to sway her by telling her it would damage their relationship. The girl is torn in trying to make a decision. She realizes that it is not nearly as simple a decision as her lover is making it out to be. A part of her wants her baby, and another part of her wants to hang on to her lover. The end of the story does not give a resolution to the decision that is finally made. It is up to the reader to draw a conclusion. The man also attempts to trivialize the abortion by making it sound simple, but abortion in Spain was not legal at the time. It wasnt made legal in Spain until 1985, and sometimes women died. Many doctors were not willing to risk their careers on being caught performing illegal abortions. Many times, the only doctors who performed them were doctors who werent very good or whose offices were less than sanitary. The man wants Jig to have the abortion, but she looks at the situation realistically. The man might leave her anyway, and she might be physically and psychologically scarred from the abortion, even if nothing goes wrong. The subject of the abortion isnt specifically named, but is alluded to. An elephant in the room is when you have a situation or topic of major importance that no one wants to talk about, but the topic is there nonetheless. It cant be ignored, but no one wants to deal with it because they dont know how. Jig tries to deal with it, but the man refuses to. He just wants her to have it, so his responsibility is ended. This is the allusion that leads to the title. The elephant in the room is the abortion. (cited in e-notes. com) The story was first published in 1927, so another issue besides abortion is societal attitudes toward unwed mothers. There was no such thing as government aid back then, so Jig would have had a tough time raising a child without a father. Unless she was independently wealthy, she would have had a hard time finding a job. The issue of illegitimacy would have arisen as well. Her child would have been branded a bastard in 1927. If the father refuses to fulfill his responsibility, the only choices open to her were abortion, adoption, or illegitimacy. (cited in e-notes. com) WORK CITED ALLEN-LINDA,CRITICAL ISSUES-HILLS LIKE WHITE ELEPHANT,University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill AMY-LEPORE,Freelance author ,University of Central Florida BMADNICK,Belen, NM

History of the concept of creativity

History of the concept of creativity History of the concept of creativity In spite of its current popularity, the concept of creativity, i.e. its name, is a recent notion that, nevertheless, went through a number of development stages and metamorphoses caused by the changes in the way the concept of creativity was perceived by societies at various stages of development. The process is not finished yet. Sometime in the future the general concept of creativity will hopefully be converted into a specialized concept, i. e. its regularities will be enumerated while its particularities linking it currently to a culture or a subculture will be eliminated. In the following text, the evolution of the concept of creativity throughout history is reviewed briefly, with the focus on important milestones and personalities. The milestones are arranged in a temporal sequence, whereas outstanding personalities are quoted where necessary, rather than presented in a strict temporal sequence. It is intuitively easy to accept the thesis that creative acts have been around as long as the homo sapiens, the humanoids and, indeed, living organisms. The concept of creativity appeared much later, and came forth very gradually. On the long way to establishing it, many intermediate new terms were generated, some of which have been used for centuries, in exceptional cases until our time. They help us understand more easily what creativity is and how it interacts with other operations in the intellectual sphere. Theoretical views of creativity follow the development of human culture and thought. Therefore, the concept of creativity is a component of the history of the human thought to the same extent as any other intellectual manifestation (Briffault, 1928). Much of the historical developments as accounted for in the following review are based on Tatarkiewiczs book (1980), Dictionnaire philosophique, and the following references: Verma (1969), Lindberg (1976), Abdus Salam (1984), Agar (2001), Ahmad (2002), Steffens (2006), Covington (2007), Roshdi (2007), and Medieval Classic civilization; An Encyclopaedia. Prehistoric times Remarkable and very advanced objects testifying to human creative genius are known from the art history. They originate from many parts of the world and from many different cultures and epochs. Perhaps the foremost examples of the earliest manifestations of creativity are various objects produced by the Australian Aborigines. The Aborigines are presumed to have moved to Australia from India some 50 000 years ago. Their most puzzling creative product is the boomerang for them hunting tool, for us an enigmatic object of scientific studies. Other important manifestation of human creative act and thought originates from Egypt and Mexico. These countries distinguish themselves not only by very advanced ability to produce objects, but also by the scientific (most often astronomic) knowledge embedded in these products. The pyramids of Egypt and those of Mexico, Guatemala, or Belize, the Mayan calendar, and the way of using mathematics in Egypt and in Mexico, are absolutely amazing even today. The Mayan astronomers had developed a spatial geometry parting from astronomy. The mathematics they used is still more accurate than the computational algorithms that make the flow of data in modern information networks possible (Ferrera-Balanquet, 2009). Another cultural area of great importance extends in Asia, particularly in the area comprising the present day Iraq, Iran, India, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Buildings, materials and various concepts of physics embedded in the buildings testify to the high level of knowledge these peoples possessed thousands of years ago. In China and Japan, too, creativity enhanced knowledge in a manner that after thousands of years is still admired. India stands, as usual, apart in that it knew creativity as â€Å"insight† since times immemorial. For instance, in the extinct Pali language the word vipassanÄ  consists of the Sanskrit prefix â€Å"vi-â€Å" and the verbal root à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡paņº. It is often translated as †insight† or â€Å"clear-seeing,† One should not be misled by the â€Å"in-â€Å" prefix in â€Å"insight†.. â€Å"Vi† in ancient Aryan languages is equivalent to the Latin â€Å"dis-†. It is reasonable to conclude that in the word vipassanÄ  the prefix â€Å"vi-† generates the meaning â€Å"to see apart†, or discern. Alternatively, the â€Å"vi† can function as an intensifier. In that case vipassanÄ  may mean â€Å"seeing deeply†. A pali synonym for â€Å"VipassanÄ Ã¢â‚¬  is paccakkha, menaing â€Å"before the eyes,† which refers to direct experiential perception. Thus, the type of seeing denoted by â€Å"vipassanÄ Ã¢â‚¬  is that of direct perception and experience, as opposed to knowledge derived from reasoning or argument. It has also been adopted as the name of a kind of Buddhist meditation. Ancient Greece The people of Ancient Greece had no terms corresponding to â€Å"creativity† or â€Å"creator†. Yet, the poet was considered to be one who creates. Whatever was â€Å"creative† in the present sense of the word, was called art. The concept of art (in Greek  Ã…  Ã‚ Ã‹Å" Ã‚ Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ °, from which technique and technology evolved), implied subjection to rules. Poetry (from  Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ´Ã‚ Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ´Ã‚ Ã†â€™Ã…  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¼ to make) was an exception, although it was limited only to  Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™Ã…  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ´Ã‚ Ã‹â€  (poetry) and to the  Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ °Ã‚ Ã…  Ã‚ Ã… ¡Ã‚ Ã‹â€  (poet, or maker) who made it, rather than to art in general. The reason was that art was considered an imitation of what already exists, â€Å"the making of things, according to rules†, hence subjection to laws and rules. In painting, music, or literature, there was no freedom. They were governed by what was known as ÃŽÂ ½ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¿ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¼ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¿ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¹ (the laws). This conservative attitude and need for subjection prevailed in the works of Plato who claimed, mainly in Timaeus, Dialogue of Ion, and in The Republic, that a good work is contingent on observing an eternal model as suggested by Nature, and never deviate from that model. The eternal models were within reach, in the surrounding world, of which artists were the imitators. They thus had to abide by certain rules. In the visual arts, freedom was curtailed by the proportions that Polyclitus had established for the human frame. He called them â€Å"the canon† (meaning, measure). Likewise, in music, no freedom was necessary because melodies for ceremonies and entertainme nt were known. They were prescribed as nomoi. Making of things according to rules, or à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ µÃƒ Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ·, was not considered to contain any creativity at all. In fact, if they had contained creativity, the state of affairs would be considered bad by the Greek standards of that time: Something similar to the negative perception of creative accounting nowadays [Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 244]. Man ought to discover the laws of Nature and abide by them. Seeking freedom of action unnecessarily distracts him from seeking the optimum way. In Ancient Greece the artist was not an inventor, he was a discoverer [Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 245]. It means that he had to study the laws of Nature, discover and see how related entities interact, and use them as a model. This world-view had its own justification. Nature is both perfect and subject to laws. The artists ambition must be to discover these laws and submit to them, rather than seek the distracting freedom from these laws, a freedom that would deflect him from attaining the optimal state. Poetry stood outside these limitations. The poet invented a whole new world and gave it life. The poet differed from the artist, the imitator, in that laws did not bind him. In spite of the absence of the term for creativity, creation, or the creator, the poet, and only the poet, was understood to be a creator.According to the Greek view, the poet was an inventor, i. e. he put together unrelated entities and let them interact in an arbitrary manner. This is what made poetry the only exception from the rules applying to art. In terms of truthfulness of this world-view, Aristotle, who established the term truth, was not sure whether poetry required adherence to truth, i. e. whether it imitated Nature. He thought that poetry was in the realm that was neither true nor false [Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 245-6]. The concepts of imagination and inspiration, too, were restricted to poetry only. Poets were seen differently and they saw things differently. But not everybody was reconciled with this restriction. An example can be found in the Odyssey, where a question is posed why the singer should be forbidden to entertain his listeners with singing as he himself will. Yet, even in this rigid environment of dogmas, some progress took place. Thus, in the 3rd century, Porphyry of Tyros graphically visualized the concept categories of Aristotle. In the 4thcentury of the Christian era, Pappus of Alexandria searched for a science of invention. He named his techniques â€Å"heuristics†. Antique Rome The Roman civilization developed from the Greek civilization. It was younger, thus more progressive and more exploratory than was the civilization of Greece. Therefore, things were seen in a different light in Rome, and the Greek concepts were viewed as partially outdated. To begin with, the vocabulary was enriched with new concepts, which shook up the foundations of the Greek thought. This effort happened to follow two counter-directions. on the one hand, Cicero wrote that art embraces those things â€Å"which are known† (â€Å"quae sciuntur†) [Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 245]. Horace, on the other hand, elevated painters to the level of poets in giving them the privilege of daring whatever they pleased (â€Å"quod libet audendi†), instead of following the â€Å"eternal model†. Moreover, in the declining period of antiquity, Lucius Flavius Philostratus discovered a similarity between poetry and art, and found that art and poetry have imagination in common. Cal listratos expanded these ideas by stating that as much as the art of the poets and writers of prosaic literature is inspired, so are the hands of sculptors. They, too, are gifted with the blessing of divine inspiration. The novelty of these postulates follows from the fact that Greeks had applied the concepts of imagination and inspiration to poetry only, but not to the visual arts. The Greek language had no word for creating, whereas Latin had. Creare and facere were two Latin words corresponding to the Greek à Ã¢â€š ¬ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¿ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ µÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¹Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Yet, initially the two Latin terms had almost the same meaning (Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 246), and were thus interchangeable. Christianity Under medieval Christianity, the Latin â€Å"creatio† came to designate Gods act of â€Å"creatio ex nihilo† (i.e. creation from nothing). â€Å"Creatio† thus no longer could apply to human activities. Its meaning differed from the meaning of â€Å"facere† (to make). Applied to human activities, facere was the only word to be used. Cassiodorus, the important statesman and writer of the 6th century, explained that things made and created differ, because we can make but cannot create. His important works on this topic, written after his retirement, include De anima (published 540), Institutiones Divinarum et Saecularium Litterarum (published probably 543-555), and De Artibus ac Disciplinis Liberalium Litterarum [Tatarkiewicz 1980, p. 247]. This more or less â€Å"secular† interpretation of creativity collided with the archaic views of some Christian writers. To begin with, they believed that art did not belong to the realm of creativity. In this respect they had the same belief as the Greeks. Medieval Christian writers granted no exception to poetry. They claimed that poetry had to follow its rules. Therefore it was an art, i. e. a craft rather than a creative activity. The dominant figure among these writers was St. Augustine, a personality whose works are of interest even today. He is claimed to have used the word imagination as a precursor to creativity. Imagination, according to St. Augustine comprised disposition, multiplication, reduction, extension, ordering, any kind of re-composition of images, etc. (Rodari, 1983). These very same components of â€Å"imagination† are used even today [Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 247]. Further changes were recorded in the Middle Ages: poetrys exceptional status was gradually revoked, because poetry had its rules. It was thus regarded as an art, i. e. a craft, rather than creativity. The new, religious interpretation of the expression notwithstanding, the opinion that art is not related to creativity persisted. The works of two influential early Christian writers, Pseudo-Dionysius and St. Augustine, prove it. The same can be said the works of Hraban the Moor and Robert Grosseteste, in the 13th century. Renaissance There are two periods in European history, called the Renaissance. The first one is the 12th century Renaissance. It was a period of many innovative and creative cahnges during the High Middle Ages, such as social, political and economic transformations. Parallel developments in philosophy and science resulted in an intellectual revitalization of Europe. The second renaissance is the Italian Renaissance in the 15th century. Some historians claim that the changes having taken place in the Middle Ages paved the way to the Italian Renaissance, as well as to the scientific developments of the 17th century. The French historian Jacques le Goff, an agnostic, argues that the Middle Ages formed an entirely new civilization, distinct from both the Greco-Roman antiquity, and from the modern world. The medieval achievements of the human mind and the human hands can only be related briefly. The First Rrenaissance . The most creative political acts of the 12th century were the founding of the Hansa in Northern Europe (along the southern shore of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, with a few excursions deeper into Central Europe), the Crusades, the rise of towns, and the rise of the early bureaucratic states. In the cultural sphere the vernaculars began to replace Latin increasingly, higher education became more prominent, with universities sprouting all around the European continent between the Atlantic and the Theisse river, the Romanesque art was gradually replaced by the Gothic art, the liturgical drama, and a European system of law was established. These changes are true milestones. In the arts, more emphasis was put on architecture and sculpture, while in parallel there was a revival of interest in Latin poetry and Latin classics. An outer expansion began in the late 13th century, when the Venetian explorer Marco Polo set out to follow the Silk Road to China. His doc umentary Il Milone made Europeans more aware of the Far East, which inspired many missionaries (Giovanni da Pian del Carpini, Giovanni de Marignolli, Giovanni di Monte Corvino, and others) to go east and spread Christianity. The greatest leaps of human knowledge were, however, recorded in science and technology. Since Ibn al-Haytham (also known as Alhazen, 965-1039) laid down the foundations of the scientific method, the emphasis was put on seeking truth. Science thus became a formal discipline, different from philosophy. In early Middle Ages, the Byzantine Empire, the most advanced culture of antiquity, suffered losses and a decline in its scientific capacity. Likewise, Western Europe, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, suffered a catastrophic loss of knowledge. This was partially offset by the efforts of Church scholars, like Aquinas and Buridan, who preserved elements of scientific inquiry. In that manner, by translating and imitating the works of Islamic scholars Europe could begin catching up with the scientific discoveries of the Islamic world, the Mediterranean basin, India, and China. The most important steps to Europes scientific recovery at that time comprise the following events: Development of the scientific method (Alhazen, Biruni, Bacon, and Grosseteste); Arithmetic and Algebra (Al-Khwarizmi); Differential calculus (Bhaskara); Mechanics (Avicenna, with a later contribution by Ibn Bajjah, also known as Avempace, Buridan, Galileo, Descartes and Newton); Optics(Aristotle, Plato, Galen, Euclid, Hero of Alexandria, Ptolemaeus. In the 10th century, Alhazen proved empirically that light propagates linearly;Robert Grosseteste developed a theory of optics based on the works of al-Kindi and Ptolemaeus. Roger Bacon expanded on Grossetestess theory and integrated Alhazens optics into it. Finally, Kepler was able to use the foregoing findings to develop the modern theory of optics); Surgery(Abulcasis or Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas Al-Zahrawi developed procedures and instruments of modern surgery, such as the scalpel, syringe, vaginal speculum, etc.). In 1266, Theodo ric Borgogni published his Chirurgia, in which he advocates antiseptic surgery); Alchemy and Chemistry (The Jaberian Corpus, written in the 10th century by the Brotherhood of Purity (Ismaylia), the Summa Perfectionis, by Paulus de Tarento, the Secret of Secrets by al-Razi (Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya Razi);Trigonometry (al-Tusi, Regiomontanus and Puerbach made these methods wider known in the 15th century); Navigation (the astrolabe and the portable compass, Peter de Maricourt); Accurate lunar models(Ibn al-Shatir; Copernicus is believed to have relied on al-Shatirs model); Incendiary weapons and bombs (flame-throwers, land- and sea-mines, and rockets). Among important technological accomplishments and developments, the following can be listed: The windmill, first mentioned in 1185 (England); Paper manufacture began around 1270 (Italy); The spinning wheel (13th century); The magnetic compass for navigation, and the astrolabe (toward the end of the 13th century); Eyeglasses, in the late 13th century (Italy); The Hindu-Arabic numerals introduced to Europe in 1202 with the book Liber Abaci by Leonardo of Pisa; The stern-mounted rudder, which can be found on church carvings. The philosophy developed in the Middle Ages was the Scholasticism. It is founded on a reinterpretation of the works of Aristotle, with further refinements by scholars like Avicenna, Averroes, Albertus Magnus, Bonaventure, and Abà ©lard. Scholasticism believes in empirical studies, and its practitioners supported the Catholic Church. Perhaps the most famous practitioner of Scholasticism was Thomas of Aquinas. His Philosophy of mind teaches that the mind of a newborn baby is a tabula rasa that was given the ability to think, and to recognize forms, patterns, or ideas through a divine spark. In the late Middle Ages, the rate of scientific progress declined significantly due to the decline of the Muslim empires and the Byzantine Empire. This situation lasted until after the Renaissance. The Italian Reanaissance. The Italian Reanaissance brought further changes into the mode of thinking and lifestyle of people. The Renaissance philosophy is that of Humanism, which perhaps is more a method of learning than a philosophy per se. An approximate, but generally accepted definition of Humanism is â€Å"the movement to recover, interpret, and assimilate the language, literature, learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome†. Unlike the medieval scholars, humanists would apply a combination of reasoning and empirical evidence in reading and appraising ancient texts in the original. Humanist education focused on the study of five humanities: poetry, grammar, history, rhetoric, and moral philosophy. Above all, humanists asserted mans genius and the ability of the human mind, which is unique and extraordinary. Humanism is more secular in some aspects, but it unquestionably developed against a Christian backdrop, particularly in the Northern Renaissance. That period gave mankind some outstanding theologians, all of them followers of the humanist method. They include Zwingli, Calvin, Thomas More, Erasmus, and Martin Luther. In particular, Dr Martin Luther must be viewed as the liberator of the human soul, with whatever effect it had on subsequent cataclysmic developments in society, science, business, and trade. Although the people of the Renaissance were well aware of their freedom and creativity, the term creativity was not established yet. It was not until the 17th-century that the word â€Å"creativity† was applied for the first time. The man behind it was Polish poet Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski (1595-1640), also known as â€Å"the last Latin poet†. Sarbiewaski applied the term only to poetry. In his treatise, De perfecta poesi, he wrote that a poet â€Å"invents,† and creates anew (â€Å"de novo creat†) in the manner of God (â€Å"instar Dei†) (Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 248). Other arts, in Sarbiewskis opinion, do not create. They merely imitate and copy. Why Sarbiewski regarded creativity as something that only poetry could be associated with, thus excluding visual arts, follows from his opinion that arts (other than poetry) imitate and copy, rather than create, in that they assume the material from which they create is already available, and so is the subject. At the end of the 17th century Andrà © Fà ©libien (1619-75) called the painter â€Å"a creator†. Spanish Jesuit Baltasà ¡r Gracià ¡n (1601-58) saw art as the second Creator that complements nature. This formulation is reminiscent of Sarbiewskis formulations (Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 248). In the 18th century, the occurrence of the concept of creativity in art theory kept increasing. It was complemented with the concept of imagination. In Joseph Addisons opinion imagination â€Å"has something in it like creation†. A similar opinion was held by Voltaire (1740). These authors, however, equated only poet with creator (Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 248-9). Contrary views proliferated, too, particularly in France. Diderot worked with imagination, which he viewed merely as â€Å"the memory of forms and contents†, which â€Å"creates nothing†. It only combines, magnifies or diminishes. â€Å"The human mind cannot create†, wrote Charles Batteux. He, too, saw its products as displaying the stigmata of the model used. Étienne Bonnot de Condillac (1715-80) and Luc de Clapiers, known as marquis de Vauvenargues (1715-47), proposed similar ideas (Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 249). There were three reasons why they rejected the idea of human creativity: Creation was at that time reserved for creation ex nihilo. The latter was beyond mans abilities. Creation is a mysterious act. Enlightenment psychology, however, had no room for mysteries. Artists of that time age observed their rules. Creativity, however, seemed irreconcilable with rules. The third objection was, however, weak. Houdar de la Motte (1715) was one of the thinkers who suggested that rules, too, â€Å"are a human invention† (Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 249). The philosopher Marsilio Ficino wrote that the artists work is the result of thinking it up (â€Å"excogitatio†). Leon Battista Alberti, the theoretician of architecture and painting, claimed that he preordains (â€Å"preordinazione†), and Raphael claimed that his ideas shape his painting. Universal genius Leonardo da Vinci claimed that it was his idea that determined how his painting was shaped, using shapes that do not exist in nature. Another painter, Raphael Santi, too, claimed that he painted according to his ideas. Giorgio Vasari claimed that nature is conquered by art. Paolo Pino, the art theoretician from Venice claimed that painting is â€Å"inventing what is not†. Likewise, Paolo Veronese declared that painters take the same liberties as they were poets and madmen. â€Å"A new world, new paradises†was what an artist shapes, maintained Federico Zuccari. Cesare Cesariano extended this to architects whom he considered â€Å"demi-gods.† In the realm of music, according to the Dutch composer and musicologist Jan Tinctoris, a composer was â€Å"one who produces new songs†. He thus associated novelty with a composers work. Writers on poetry were even more consequent. Capriano claimed that poetic inventions spring â€Å"from nothing†. Francesco Patrizi held that poetry was a â€Å"fiction†, â€Å"shaping†, and â€Å"transformation† (Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 248). The developments in the Renaissance science were as dynamic as in the arts. Science and the arts were intermingled, which manifests best in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. He made observational drawings of nature and anatomy, set up and conducted controlled experiments in water-flow and aerodynamics, systematic study of motion, and medical dissection. Leonardo devised principles of scientific research method in the spirit of holistic, non-mechanistic and non-reductive approach popular today. Leonardo deserves the epithet â€Å"the father of modern science†. The focus on the process for discovery, the scientific method, corroborated by influential proponents such as Copernicus and Galileo, is perhaps the most significant development of that time. This revolutionary way of learning about the world stressed the importance of empirical evidence, as well as the importance of mathematics, rather than highlighting a given discovery. Age of Reason In the 18th century, the Age of Reason and Change, the concept of creativity appeared more frequently in art theory. Once again, famous personalities needed an ancillary concept to explain and justify creativity. One such concept was that of imagination. It was first used in 1712 by the English essayist, poet and publisher Joseph Addison. He published 11 essays on imagination in The Spectator. In one essay he claims that only the sense of sight supplies ideas to the imagination. He speculated about a congruence between imagiantion and creativity. By the same time, the famous French author and philosopher Franà §ois-Marie Arouet de Voltaire distinguished between passive and active imagination. On the latter he wrote in his Dictionnaire philosophique that â€Å"Active imagination is that which joins combination and reflection to memory. It brings near to us many objects at a distance; it separates those mixed together, compounds them, and changes them; it seems to create, while in fa ct it merely arranges; for it has not been given to man to make ideas-he is only able to modify them†. Voltaire continued: â€Å"This gift of nature is an imagination inventive in the arts in the disposition of a picture, in the structure of a poem.† Both authors thus indicate that poets are creative, and they equate poet with creator. Modern times The resistance against recognizing art as creativity, seen in the preceding centuries, crumbled totally in the 19thcentury. Now art gained recognition as creativity and, moreover, art alone was regarded as creativity. At the turn of the 20th century discussion of creativity in the art as well as in the sciences, e.g. by Jan Ã…Â ukasiewicz (Sinisi, 2004), and in nature (cf. Bergson, 1907) began. At this point concepts proper to art were applied to the sciences and to nature [Tatarkiewicz, 1980, p. 249]. There was, however, a long waiting time to the scientific study of creativity. The thinking of some modern time scholars will be expounded in the subsequent chapter. The beginning of scientific study of creativity is generally taken to be J. P. Guilfords address to the American Psychological Association in 1950. Many scholars joined in the effort to explore creativity in the years to come. They took a more pragmatic approach to this esoteric subject. As creativity became established as a discipline, scholars realized that creativity depends on being practiced. Creativity reveals itself in accomplishments and deeds, rather than in words. While a sound theoretical approach still was important, more and more emphasis was put on developing practical creativity techniques. Important personalities illustrating this approach include Alex Osborn, who in the 1950s invented brainstorming. In the same decade, Genrikh Altov, later calling himself Altshuller, came up with his â€Å"Theory of Inventive Problem Solving†, better known as TRIZ. In the 1960, Edward de Bono became famous after having developed his influential theory of â€Å"Lateral thinkin g.† These and other theories and techniques are expounded in more detail in subsequent chapters.