The mere formulation of a problem is far more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skills.
To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.
I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
Albert Einstein and Leopold Infeld (1938), The Evolution of Physics
I recently encountered this quotation in The Poetry and Music of Science: Comparing Creativity in Science and Art by Tom McLeish. I have heard many times the "Imagination is more important than knowledge" quote, sometimes as a dubious justification for dubious ideas. However, I did not know the context.
My postdoctoral advisor, John Wilkins tried to drill into me, the idea in the first paragraph, that just coming up with a well-defined formulation of a problem could be a significant advance. This idea certainly had some impact on me, since I sometimes hear my non-scientist wife quote it!
On reflection, I am afraid that I too easily lose sight of this priority of defining problems, just like the method of multiple alternative hypotheses. Good science is hard.
Why am I reading this article? What question am I trying to answer?
Why am I writing this paper? What question am I trying to answer?
What is the problem I assigning a student to work on? Is it well-formulated?
Defining good research questions is hard work and requires discipline.
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