Roger Von Oech has an uncommon gift: he can mix knowledge, wisdom and humour. Von Oech is a fan of Heraclitus. If you really like to think creatively you will be a fan too.

I have never believed in reading about the theory of creativity: is like believing that you are exercising by watching ESPN. If you want to achieve the reality of a way to stimulate your creative thinking this book is for you.

Any work from this author is satisfaction guaranteed.

"Expect the Unexpected or You Won't Find It" is a collection of thirty of Heraclitus' epigrams along with an examination of some of their different facets. Heraclitus was a Greek scholar who answered many of life's questions with comments that were purposely designed to be obscure. This forced the recipient to think creatively to find their answer. Many of them contain internal paradoxes and so part of the creative process is figuring out the paradox and how it applies to your situation.

As Roger von Oech goes through each of the thirty selected epigrams he includes some of the ways that they can be interpreted, ways that they have been interpreted in the past, anecdotes, jokes, and riddles that illustrate the epigram and other ways of illuminating just how deep these pieces of wisdom are. Does he give a complete explanation of how they can be interpreted? No, because that is part of the design of these epigrams, they can be applied to different circumstances and product different but still correct answers. His illustrations are there to open your mind to the creative possibilities that lie hidden within just a few wise words.

Some of these I have heard in the past such as "You can't step into the same river twice". Others are less common but just as full of wisdom such as "On a circle, an end point can also be a beginning point". If you want a book that expands your creative mind and also shows you how to break out of old patterns of thinking in any situation, then this is the book for you. Well written and sure to point the reader to new directions of thinking, it is a highly recommended read.

A number of years ago, I read Roger von Oech's A WHACK ON THE SIDE OF THE HEAD. It was fairly early in my career, when the mold is still unformed but the message was poignant. Recently, when I ran across EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED and saw von Oech was the author, I decided to pick it up and renew myself to von Oech's teachings. What a breath of fresh air he offers with EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.

von Oech draws heavily upon the ancient wisdom of Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher. Heraclitus, like Parmenides, postulated a model of nature and the universe which created the foundation for all other speculation on physics and metaphysics. The ideas that the universe is in constant change and there is an underlying order or reason to this change-the Logos-form the essential foundation of the primary Heraclitean view. Everytime one walks into a science, economics, or political science course, at most any level, significantly all the teachings originate with Heraclitus's speculations on change and the Logos.
Despite this and the fact the ancient Greeks considered Heraclitus one of their principal philosophers, precious little remains of his writings. The passages remaining are tremendously obtuse, not because they are quoted out of context, but because Heraclitus deliberately cultivated an obscure writing style (one that makes one THINK!). However, thanks to von Oech's passion for all that is Heraclitus and his teachings, we are presented with many the ancient 'riddles' and a modern day correlation and translation of each. von Oech recalls being struck with "the Heraclitean bug" while studying in Germany many years ago. Now, he has written a book in which he brilliantly and entertainingly examines concepts such as symbol, paradox, and ambiguity in relation to creative thought.

At the beginning of EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED, von Oech provides the reader with 30 creative insights to consider and explore our creative psyches. von Oech goes through each of the thirty selected epigrams, provides his interpretation along with examples, parables, and questions-the kind that make you go "Hmmm"- all the while stoking the creative being within. von Oech does not attempt to inform the reader that his interpretation is the correct one; to the contrary, he implores the reader to step outside the boundries of conventional thought to find the "correct" answer.

As he was in A WHACK ON THE SIDE OF THE HEAD, von Oech is immensely entertaining. He is an individual who has spent his career assisting others to think creatively. As a byproduct of this career, von Oech has proven himself to be a prodigous creative thinker in his own right. Those in the 'concrete' professions-attorneys, consultants, accountants-will find this book extremely insightful. Thinking in the abstract is incongruent with the 'concrete' professions (I know, I'm one of them). As such, having the fodder to stoke the creative juices, particularly when problem-solving, is a boon to any professional.

At it's small physical size and only 190-odd pages, this book is perfect to keep handy at your desk or any place one engages in thought. I plan to keep it nearby just to refer to when a problem presents itself in an ostensibly unsolvable manner.

Highly recommended.

Devoid of all "Slave Morality" influences from Semitic thinking, Heraclitus is pure European thought at its finest. It's usually proclaimed, that all Western philosophies are but a footnote to Plato. I disagree. Even Plato is subjected to Heraclitus. These fragments shine through, and Charles Kahn does an excellent job of giving his opinions about each fragment without forcing them down your throat and proclaiming his opinions as 100% the ONLY way they can be understood (but, in my opinion, he makes a good case for this reasons). After reading these 123 fragments, you'll see that philosophers such as Plato through Hitler among others owe much of their thinking to this one man. An Excellent Read.

One of the things that is most interesting to me about this book is the way it illustrates how we can know so much about someone whose main book is not available to us. By writing about nature in a way that emphasized the power of fire, war, and strife, Heraclitus produced a book that was so well known to ancient writers that many of them lifted ideas for their own purposes. This combination of the knowledge that we have from many sources produces a picture of the permutations that basic philosophy is prone to fall prey to in a history which never finds any particular idea useful for long. I find the application of such ideas most interesting in the field of deep politics, where the idea of "killing the killers," mentioned in connection with the riddle which Homer couldn't guess at the time of his death according to the tradition explained in this book, could be related to some modern despicabilities.

The dense language and riddling nature of Heracitus' prose has baffled many of us for the past 2500 years. The approach here taken to Heraclitus' fragments is fascinating. The author points out that only by putting the fragments in context with the way the greeks of the fifth century BC reasoned, Heraclitus' thought may come to life to the modern reader.

Unlike today's "rational" thought, the greeks of the fifth century BC were not yet enslaved to deductive thinking and causality, but were quite aware of the self-referent nature of things, of the unending web of interelations that makes up Nature and the Universe.

Science exclusively endowed with causality and deduction is very good at finding the hows, but terribly clumsy at finding the whys. This book is definitely recommended to all science people interested not only in learning the hows, but also in understanding the whys.

Dr. Danielson was actually my professor for first year Honors English here at UBC. He was an absolutly incredible prof, and his love for the cosmos really comes through in this book.

I really liked this book. It is fun reading and gets you thinking about very big questions.

As a science buff, I'm used to reading the latest books on physics, cosmology, etc. by modern-day leading scientists. But in this book, you get to see how the best thinkers of each age took what was known and put it together to explain the universe. And you get to see it in their own words, supplemented by Danielson's concise but insightful commentary.

This seems to me a book for both non-scientist and scientist. For the non-scientist, Danielson makes even the latest physics very understandable. For example, his description of Einsteinian gravity in the Wheeler chapter is as accessible an explanation of general relativity as I have seen in any popular book, and far better than those of my old introductory physics books. Any high schooler should understand it. Danielson seems to be able to draw out the essential ideas from both modern and ancient scientists and present them in a non-technical but accurate way. He also includes some very fun contributions, such as George Bernard Shaw's hilarious toast to Albert Einstein.

And I like the way each thinker's thoughts are presented in a short chapter-sort of bite-size stories. This means a person can pick it up and put it down without losing the thread. The chapters are presented almost exclusively in historical order, but I chose to hop around from era to era. In fact, the historical order lets you hop around without losing the sense of the historical context. I found it fun picking up the book and deciding which big name I was going to read next.

I think scientists should like the book too and find it valuable. Even though I have extensive science training and a degree in physics, I still did not have a good sense of the real contributions or views of most of the earlier scientists such as Copernicus, Descartes, etc., or of what was known about the universe and when, or how it all has come together in the modern view. To take just one example, I did not imagine that Ptolemy knew so much about the cosmos, including the facts that the earth is spherical and that it is a small, point-like object relative to the size of the "heavens." And he knew this based on a combination of careful observation and deep thinking that to me makes him the intellectual equal of virtually any modern cosmologist. I never viewed him this way before.

Mostly, though, it is fun having Feynman side by side with Copernicus, and Weinberg with Plato and even Milton, all struggling to come to terms with the nature of the universe. By his artful yet precisely constructed commentary, Danielson somehow brings them into a kind of conversation together. It makes for a surprisingly gripping read, and I continue to go back to certain chapters as I have discussions with friends (and think more) about what different thinkers thought way back when.

I personally would highly recommend it.

great/lots of info/will refer to family and friends

An intriguing and well-written look at Heraclitus. This is a compact, concise reference book to have on hand in the home library when the urge to review ancient philosophy comes to mind. Enjoyable reading.

Before grunge, before punk, before monks renouncing this "evil world" for the purity of the desert, there was Diogenes. If Plato codified and, to some extent, "created" Western philosophy, then Diogenes lit a stink bomb at Plato's Academy and sent all the earnest young students scrambling for fresh air: what they didn't realize was that Diogenes WAS that fresh air. Listen to his dismissal of the great man of the West: "Plato winces when I track dust across his rugs: he knows that I'm walking on his vanity." And how about his summary of the state of Greek culture in the mid-fourth century B.C.E.: "Men nowhere, but real boys at Sparta." Nor did his satiric bite exempt his own condition: "When I die, throw me to the wolves. I'm used to it." How many of Plato's dialogues deliver a message as direct as this one?: "I threw away my cup when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough." In pithy saying after saying, Diogenes makes it clear that he has "broken through" to the freedom of being owned neither by his possessions nor by society's limitations, all of which is in some sly way conveyed by his opening [in Davenport's translation] salvo: "I have come to debase the coinage." And, oh yes, this translation includes all the meaningful fragments of Herakleitos as well. But once you have read Diogenes, Herakleitos will seem like the stodgiest old coot you've ever heard of, except maybe for Plato. [Updated versions of these translations are also available in Davenport's 7 GREEKS, which also includes the "complete" works of Sappho, Archilochos, Alkman, Anakreon and Herondas.]

A collection of eleven discourses made in 1974 by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (OSHO) about Heraclit Fragments. Each chapter is a thorough explanation from OSHO about the ideas of Heraclit and why he was misunderstood in the ancient Greek. OSHO establishes parallels among Heraclit and other illuminated masters like Buda, Jesus and Lao Tsé, with the usual sense of humor and detailed vision from a man who was considered one of the most brilliant ones from our century. This book is about religion, life, spirituality, illumination and specially about how a person which reaches this non describable state of conscience (the illumination) faces difficulties when he tries to share his feelings with other people.

In all my years I've never read a more thrilling account of Kafka's relation to the Western literary tradition. This is the sort of thing Stephen King might write if comparative literature was his field. Schur's insight about the role of the path in the Western canon was so profound that when I first read it I slid out of my rocking chair onto the floor. Fantastic.

A Whack on the Side of the Head is a book that deserves some time. If you rush this book, you will miss much of its value. Roger von Oech uses a combination of explanation, puzzles, and irreverent artwork in his treatise on creative thinking. People who consider themselves creative will instantly take to this book. People who don't feel they are creative may be a little intimidated by the format of the book, but if they can buckle down and force themselves to give it a chance, they stand to gain the most from the book. Reading this book can help you reawaken the imaginative thinking process most people abandoned in their childhood. We from getAbstract recommend this book to anyone who wants to be more creative; it will be as useful for a high school student as it is for an advertising executive or a software programmer.

A Whack on the Side of the Head is a book that deserves some time. If you rush this book, you will miss much of its value. Roger von Oech uses a combination of explanation, puzzles, and irreverent artwork in his treatise on creative thinking. People who consider themselves creative will instantly take to this book. People who don't feel they are creative may be a little intimidated by the format of the book, but if they can buckle down and force themselves to give it a chance, they stand to gain the most from the book. Reading this book can help you reawaken the imaginative thinking process most people abandoned in their childhood. We from getAbstract recommend this book to anyone who wants to be more creative; it will be as useful for a high school student as it is for an advertising executive or a software programmer.

This classic book provides a host of tips and techniques on how to be more creative. It's filled with stories, anecdotes, exercises and provocative illustrations that will stimulate you to think in new and different ways. This new 3rd edition also includes much fresh material on the world's first creativity teacher: Heraclitus of Ephesus. All in all, easy to read and well worth the investment of your time. I've given many copies to my friends and business associates.

....someone has given some long overdue credit to this brilliant pre-socratic philosopher.
Geldard has done a good job articulating and intelligently interpreting Heraclitus though, mildly clouded by his personal understanding and experiences.
In any case this is one of the best attempts to explain a very difficult and often confusing subject matter. The suggested readings at the back of the book were particularly helpful to me.

_Remembering Heraclitus_ is an exposition of the philosophy of Heraclitus as revealed to us in the few fragments of his that have been preserved. The book is quite profound and asks us questions that concern the very nature of man and his universe. The author describes Heraclitus as a thinker who rejected life in the political sphere for a life removed from the Greek polis where he could engage in speculation and his own researches into the process in all things. Central to his thought is the idea of Logos. This has influenced the thought of many future generations, as well as the Christian religion. By achieving contact with the Logos, man can achieve a more harmonious existence. Heraclitus can be understood using the concept of apophasis, or "affirmation through negation". This is a way of telling us what something is, by telling us what it is not. The author explains how this works for Heraclitus in much detail. The author also discusses such terms as physis (nature), ethos (human nature), and telos (purpose) and how they all play an essential role in the thinking of Heraclitus. He also discusses how Heraclitus' thinking is applicable to the modern day understanding of consciousness, modern day physics, society, and the historical understanding of the development of philosophy. Finally, the author discusses how one should view the notion of esotericism, esoteric thought, and whether we should reject, or alternatively, idolize the past. Heraclitus is indeed a fascinating figure, a philosopher, an alchemist, a teacher, and a profound thinker who has left his mark on Western civilization (and is even popular among some Eastern philosophers). And, this book is a fine survey of the meaning of his thought.

In Remembering Heraclitus, educator and scholar Richard Geldard reveals Heraclitus as one of the principal sources of Western mystical thinking. With new translation of all the essential fragments of Heraclitus writings, readers are treated to both an academic and a brightly articulate study that present very real and contemporary existential and phenomenological challenges. Enhanced with appendices on "The Problem of the Text"; "The Essential Fragments"; Glossary of Greek Terms"; and "Suggested Readings", Remembering Heraclitus is rewarding and very highly recommended reading for students Greek antiquarian history, literature, culture, philosophy, religion, and metaphysics.

I must admit from the outset that my familiarity with Heidegger's philosophy, not to mention Fink's (a philosopher I'd never heard of), is not up to par with my fellow commentators (this is a generous assessment in my favor, to say the least--and obvious). That said, this review is not intended to sway Heideggar junkies one way or the other re: purchase, nor will it aid those who know Heraclitus' Fragments backwards and forwards; I am not in a position to do either. I aim to address only those nonspecialists who--like myself--are interested in Heraclitus, and who are considering making a purchase for that reason, and that reason alone.

I ordered "The Heraclitus Seminar", perhaps naively, in order to gain a better understanding of Heraclitus and his Metaphysics--I came away from the ordeal completely dumbfounded. This is partially my own fault--I knew going in that Heidegger makes for difficult reading, and that his precipitous works are, almost without exception, extremely abstruse. As such, his books require great dedication and patience. This, I was prepared for. However, I came to an impasse with the book almost immediately. This resulted from the multitude of passages that were written, within the body of the text, in Attic Greek--with *no* translations. (no kidding)

This one is better left for the later grad students and/or their profs--that is, unless you happen to be an extremely patient novice, who can read Greek without a lexicon, and who has a penchant for Heideggarian analysis of the pre-Socratics.

Martin Heidegger's special intellectual relationship with the Presocratics is often discussed as if the German philosopher was some sort of romantic originalist or nostalgist. But Heidegger always insisted that the point about going back to Heraclitus, Parmenides and rest was not to recover the specific contents of their thought (or, worse, to wallow in their supposed primitive "purity"), but to recapture the spirit of their efforts to "think the question of Being." You won't find a better presentation of this - or a more candid glimpse of Heidegger as a working philosopher - than in this text. It presents the record of a seminar on Heraclitus conducted by Heidegger and the German scholar Eugen Fink in the late 1960s. Heidegger's discussion of specific Heraclitian texts makes for difficult reading but is, generally speaking, quite lucid. And the dialog with Fink and student participants is eye-opening. (Heidegger's pronouncements are by no means always taken as Gospel!) Most important, in spite of their rather recondite subject matter, these seminar records wonderfully illuminate Heidegger's own philosophical development in the last two decades of his life. Although this book does require familiarity with Heidegger's work and somewhat unique philosophical terminology, as well as familiarity with the history of philosophy generally, I wouldn't call it a text "for specialists only." Unless, of course, all readers of philosophy are specialists! And it does provide a welcome corrective to current "New Age" tendencies to view Heraclitus and the other Presocratics as authors of quasi-religious wisdom manuals. No dumbing-down here; just a tough confrontation with difficult material!

In terms of personal experiences, Heidegger is most revealing on page 5, in the first session of a seminar in the winter semester of 1966-67, when he mentions in his third comment to the participants, "Suddenly I saw a single bolt of lightning, after which no more followed. My thought was: Zeus." This experience is a link to the antiquity also experienced in the Biblical book of Job, in the speech of Elihu, at Job 36:27-33 and Job 37:3-24, leading up to the speeches of Yahweh. By page 7 of this translation of the seminar, Heidegger is demonstrating his link with "Fr. 1" of Heraclitus by quoting more than five lines in the original ancient Greek. Those who would prefer to know the English are given the Diels version in Note 3 on page 163. I find that Note 4, the Diels translation of Fragment 7, quoted (in Greek) by Eugen Fink in the second session of these seminars, is a bit easier for me to understand. The Glossary on pages 166 to 169 is a great guide to the Greek words for the major topics in this book. There is no index, but the approach being pursued in the fashion of this book could hardly gain any clarity by an attempt to locate the ideas in this book by any system related to page numbers. My comment on this reflects Heidegger's reaction to a participant who noted that the first philosophical dictionary didn't occur until Aristotle. (p. 7) Before things were sorted out, Heraclitus was trying to communicate something in Fr. 11 about "Everything that crawls . . ." (p. 31). The excitement picks up on page 32, when Fink quotes a poem by Holderlin called "Voice of the People."