• 将数学和科学视为一种创造性过程
本书探讨创造力和智力，以及它们在数学和科学中的产生方式。
创造力和智力密切相关；它们是本书所称的“创造性智力”的两个方面。当创造性智力在数学和科学中展现时，它被称为“深度思考”。因此，本书是对前作《深度思考》的阐述。创造性智力包含意识和非意识两个方面，不同于数学证明或计算机程序中常见的系统性、基于规则的思维。它是数学突破、科学范式转变和概念学习背后的思维模式。
本书的资料来源包括儿童数字认知发展、神经心理学以及数学和科学的历史发展。本书的方法独具匠心，汲取了作者作为数学家、哲学家、教师和作家的丰富经验。
这使得我们对数学和科学有了新的认识，认为它们是人类创造性表达的过程，而非僵化的理论体系。数学被视为概念性的，其结构围绕着“概念系统”构建。科学和技术是通过它们所构建的概念系统来理解的。深度思考体现在一个概念系统如何在不同领域演变为另一个概念系统。
这种方法为教育（即学生创造性智能的展开）以及人工智能开辟了新的视角。人工智能被认为是智能且富有创造力的，但并不具备意识。然而，它与创造性智能有许多共同特征，而创造性智能已被证明是普遍存在的，不仅存在于人类的创造力中，也存在于生命的演化和物理宇宙本身的结构中。
关于作者：
William Byers is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Concordia University, Canada (appointed 2009). He received his B.Sc. (1964) and M.Sc. (1965) in Mathematics from McGill University, and his PhD (1969) from the University of California, Berkeley. He served as Assistant Professor and Research Associate at Queen's University (1969–1972), and held positions as Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor at Concordia University (1972–2008). He was Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics for three terms and Principal of Lonergan University College for eight years.
He has published research in dynamical systems, ergodic theory, and mathematics education. His books include How Mathematicians Think (Princeton University Press, 2007/2010), The Blind Spot (Princeton University Press, 2011), and Deep Thinking (World Scientific, 2015).
好评：
"Creative Intelligence in Mathematics and Science is a valuable book. It changes how one thinks about mathematics, learning, teaching, and intelligence ... Byers's contribution lies in presenting mathematics as a model of creative intelligence. Mathematics becomes the prototype of advanced human learning because it repeatedly forces the one who learns to reorganise his/her understanding under stress. It teaches us how to remain within conceptual instability long enough for new understanding to emerge. We must learn to love the confusion that makes creative insight possible."
Dr Arnold Wentzel
Universidad Antonio Nariño