The Price of Greatness: Resolving the Creativity and Madness Controversy - Hardcover

by Arnold M. Ludwig (Author)

Exploring the lives and achievements of over 1,000 extraordinary men and women, this book offers answers to the age-old questions about the relationship between mental illness and greatness, and also reveals factors that predict creative achievement. The book is filled with colorful stories about many of the most eminent artists, scientists, social activists, politicians, soldiers, and business people of our time.

Back Jacket

Exploring the lives and achievements of over 1,000 extraordinary men and women, this book offers answers to the age-old questions about the relationship between mental illness and greatness, and also reveals factors that predict creative achievement. The book is filled with colorful stories about many of the most eminent artists, scientists, social activists, politicians, soldiers, and business people of our time. Moving beyond anecdotal accounts, The Price of Greatness is based on over 10 years of original scientific research on major 20th-century figures. Delving into many of humankind's greatest achievements and the special attributes and backgrounds of those who accomplished them, this illuminating work will interest anyone who wants to know why some people achieve fame - and what price they may pay in the process.

Author Biography

Arnold M. Ludwig is the E.A. Edwards Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. He is the former winner of the prestigious Hofheimer Prize Award given by the American Psychiatric Association for his research on alcoholism and LSD. He is the author of seven books and over 100 articles or book chapters, covering such topics as altered states of consciousness, schizophrenia, hysteria, cravings, disability, sensory overload, and the nature of the self. His investigations over the past ten years have focused on the relationship of mental illness to creative achievement, as well as the nature of greatness.