A Measurement of Creativity in Western Civilization

It is surprising that anthropologists have neglected the study of creativity (artistic and philosophical) in the higher civilizations and the clustering at times of genius—especially strange that almost no one has followed up Kroeber's analysis of this in his Configurations of Culture Growth. The epicyclical theory made possible the prediction of the curve of creativity during the evolutions of Graeco-Roman and Western civilizations. A five-year empirical, quantitative study of creativity in Western civilization, with resultant name lists attached as on appendix to this paper, resulted in a curve of creativity substantially as predicted; it proved almost identical with Kroeber's conclusions in his Configurations. An earlier study (1958) for Graeco-Roman civilization had had the same results, as Kroeber had acknowledged.