The introduction to Discover Your Genius shows off the double meaning of the book's title in plain language: it is meant to help you find both your own potential for greatness and a meaningful role model to provide focus. In an effort to lead you to both simultaneously, Michael J. Gelb has created a combination workbook, guided journal, and historical biography of 10 outstanding humans.

Arranged chronologically, Discover Your Genius begins with Plato and ends with Einstein, meeting up with Brunelleschi, Columbus, Copernicus, Elizabeth I, Shakespeare, Jefferson, Darwin, and Ghandi in between. Each chapter highlights a few specific achievements while analyzing the methods and motivations of the geniuses in question.

Accompanying exercises encourage you to talk with friends, create lists and goals, seek additional reading and musical selections, and uncover your dreams. From designing a personal coat of arms filled with meaningful symbols to developing the habit of taking regular walks, these exercises balance quickly achievable activities with ongoing life changes. Several chapters urge you to involve your friends, with evenings of special, themed dinners, like the toga party with Symposium Lamb Delight, gallons of wine, and recitations of personal "odes to love."

What you'll get out of all this is dependent on your own individual views of history and politics, but keep in mind it's hard to find a truly great figure who is not controversial. If you are able to overlook the inherent hypocrisy in, for example, Thomas Jefferson (slave owner) as bastion of personal freedom, and the great explorers' (Columbus) direct responsibility for a number of known atrocities, you'll find plenty to ponder and enjoy. --Jill Lightner

From Library Journal
Strategies for thinking smart drawn from Plato, Queen Elizabeth I, and more. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Leadership and creative thinking guru Gelb (author of How To Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci, 1998) obviously subscribes to the belief that since he was successful with his previous volume, the best thing to do is to multiply that concept by 10! Now the reader is urged to take lessons from the geniuses of Western civilization, an "intellectual dream team," if you will, that includes Plato, Brunelleschi, Columbus, Copernicus, Elizabeth I, Shakespeare, Jefferson, Darwin, Gandhi, and Einstein. Gelb offers a mishmash of biography, quotations, self-assessments geared to each genius' qualities, and exercises to assist the reader to adopt those qualities (for example, for Columbus, "Cultivate optimism in the face of adversity," and for Darwin, "Find your own Beetlemania," You get the idea). Gelb has the last word in self-promotion. Turning the tables on Neil Postman, who recently wrote, "Children start school as question marks and leave as periods," Gelb instead offers, "Rediscover yourself as a question mark by contemplating these extraordinary (10) exclamation points." Allen Weakland
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

In this sage study, the author of How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci ups the ante. Instead of one brainiac, he enlists ten of history￯﾿ﾽs greatest geniuses to show readers how to enhance their own creativity. His genius dream team is prodigious: Plato, Filippo Brunelleschi, Christopher Columbus, Nicholas Copernicus, Queen Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, Mahatma Gandhi, and Albert Einstein. Each member of the team embodies a special genius characteristic; for example, love of wisdom, emotional intelligence. It's Pilates for the mind.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Imagine unleashing your creativity by letting your imagination enjoy the benefits of the type of mental play that helped inspire the theory of relativity. Or evaluating your business climate with the combination of keen observation and an open mind that yielded the theory of evolution. Or navigating your life path with the same love of knowledge and truth that spawned all of Western philosophy. The individuals behind these revolutions of thought live on in our collective memory as models for tackling the challenges that lie ahead. The difference between your mind and theirs is smaller than you think, and is determined less by inborn capacity than by passion, focus, and strategy — all of which are yours to develop.

Everyone has the potential for genius. The full expression of your unique genius awaits you in these pages! In Discover Your Genius, Michael J. Gelb draws upon the wellspring of history's most revolutionary minds to guide you to unleash your own creativity through mental play. Searching for the most world- shaking ideas, discoveries, and innovations, Gelb assembled a "genius dream team" comprising ten individuals, each of whom embodies a special "genius" characteristic that you are invited to integrate into daily life.

They are:Plato-Deepening your love of wisdom Filippo Brunelleschi-Expanding your perspective Christopher Columbus-Going perpendicular: strengthening your vision, optimism, and courage Nicholas Copernicus-Reorganizing your vision of the world Queen Elizabeth I-Wielding your power with balance and effectiveness William Shakespeare-Cultivating your emotional intelligence Thomas Jefferson-Celebrating yourfreedom in the pursuit of happiness Charles Darwin-Developing your power of observation and cultivating an open mind Mahatma Gandhi-Applying the principles of spiritual genius to harmonize spirit, mind, and body Albert Einstein-Unleashing your imagination and "combinatory play"

Through fascinating, accessible biographies, you'll develop a personal relationship with each genius and learn how to use his or her guiding principle to enrich the quality of your life. Personal self-assessments will help you gauge how each principle is working in your own life, followed by a series of practical and vibrant exercises to help you develop each principle fully.In How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, Gelb taught us how to unlock the "da Vincian" genius inside us. Now he provides an enlightening plan for personal and professional development by encouraging us to apply the wisdom of ten of history's greatest minds. Engaging and practical, Discover Your Genius gives us the tools to improve our own mental abilities by making "genius thinking" accessible and fun!

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal