The Nature of Creative Development presents a new understanding of the basis of creativity, describing patterns of development of individuals engaged in creative endeavors. The author shows how creativity grows out of distinctive, unique creative interests individuals form, often years before they make their main contributions, which grow out of their interests. He describes how individuals' interests spark creative responses, as well as ways in which individuals are guided by their interests and values.

The book is filled with case studies analyzing and describing the creative developments of individuals across a wide range of fields--individuals famous for their contributions in the arts and sciences, social sciences, technology, and business, including Virginia Woolf, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, John Maynard Keynes, William Faulkner, the Wright brothers, Piet Mondrian, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Rachel Carson, Hannah Arendt, Pierre Omidyar, and Ray Kroc, as well as contemporary individuals interviewed by the author.

This book provides a useful framework for those engaged in creative work or managing individuals engaged in such work. It will help the reader understand the nature of creativity, including difficulties they may encounter in their work and ways to overcome them.